I took my large dog kennel and placed it in my run. I then built a small covered run off of the kennel and covered the kennel with a tarp. Then I went and got my almost seven week old chicks and placed them in the little coop/run within the run. I am working towards integration in a few weeks. I then sat on my deck and watched everyone checking each other out. My husband was mowing and blew some of the grass into the run. My alpha roo, who until this point was just standing and watching the chicks, started his scratching and low clucking he does when he finds a treat. This time he was doing it to call the chicks to eat!!!! It was sooo cute. He's clucking and scratching and the little chicks are right next to him, with the poultry wire barrier. Maybe integration won't be any trouble at all!
awww... I like hearing cute rooster stories. I read all of the "mean rooster" posts and worry that my Henry will wake up one morning and be mean! LOL Hope blending them goes well for you.
aw how sweet my mokey sits with the babies out side the coop until i go out and put them in then he follows me in.
My broody hen looked really interested in the babies too. She attacked them as soon as she was put in with them ( I watched and removed her when it was plain she did NOT want to be everyone's mamma). Our rooster behaved as you described, but has brutally attacked all the male chicks, regardless of size. I wish you great luck and hope everything goes smoothly. Me, I wait until the youngsters are nearly the same size as the adults and use the pasture that contains the raspberry patch. The younger birds run into the raspberry patch when the "pecking order" activities get too much for them and the older birds cannot seem to follow them in. Eventually everyone gets used to each other.
