Integrating 6 week old chicks in with 2 13 week pullets?

[KHasChickens]

Hello,
Long story short, we had a flock of 9 ladies, but a fox got all but one. Heartbreaking. So we got another pullet of the same age to join the survivor so she wasn't alone while we raised some more chicks. We now have 8 6 week old chicks out in the run that is attached to the coop, which has been divided. The two older ladies have a big coop (built for 10 chickens) and a little run space, and the little chickies have a tiny "coop" (converted brooder box) within a bigger run space. The sooner we can get them all into the coop together and unify the run, I think the better for all of them, but I want the chicks to be safe, of course. We are not able to free-range...we have too many foxes, hawks, predators, etc. We lost our flock in the middle of the day when I stepped away for 5 minutes to settle an argument between my kids and a fox was able to get into our pretend chicken tractor where they were munching on grass and bugs. Will be looking to increase the run size eventually, (which is currently 8x8 and six feet tall) but probably not before these ladies all need to be able to get along.

My older two are a bit agitated I think about the decrease in their free space, but I could also be anthropomorphizing them a bit. They eat and roost and drink and dustbathe, and every once in a while, they look through the chickenwire at the chicks like "Who the heck or what the heck are you?" They have not tried to peck at any of the chicks through the wire...even with faces very close together on either side. The size difference is quite a lot still.

My plan is to do a few more days of complete separation, and then make it so there is a gap between the two sections that the chicks can get through to see how they do venturing in with the pullets if they want. A concern is if one gets in there and gets chased, there will only be one way out. Is that too dangerous? It would allow the pullets to get their head into the chick space, and for the chicks to go in and out but that's it. Ideally then we would make the space larger that the two olders have access to--kinda making a third "neutral zone" in the middle, with the third space being the part that only the chicks can get to until we see that they are getting along.

Is my timeline reasonable to try, or should I just settle in for a week or two of keeping the two pullets in the small space till they completely ignore the chicks? Any thoughts you might have are welcome. I tend to overthink things a bit, so I'm looking for a reality check here as this is my first time doing this. Thanks.

 

[aart]

I think your foresight is good.
Your plan sounds pretty good to me.
Show us the coops/runs please?
Raising the tiny coop enough so chicks can get int and out all around,
but bigger birds cannot gain access is a great technique.
Shown here by @rosemarythyme :
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/short-on-time-recycle-a-prefab-brooder.73985/

Multiple feed and water stations spread around the space is good.
Having lots of hiding places for the chicks to shelter can really help.
Good ideas for hiding places:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/

 

[KHasChickens]

Thanks for the reply! Multiple feeders and waterers is a good idea...just like now and maybe another hiding spot or two. Here are some pictures...the little coop is up on 2 cinderblocks that do allow the chicks under easily. It was their third night out there last night and 5 were already in the minicoop by the time we went out. Only had to put 3 in manually, which I thought was great. Over the long weekend, we may foray into some supervised mingling in the run...we shall see. Here are some pictures of our "for now" chicken duplex...we cobbled it together with what we have had lying around--still being cautious about unnecessary outings right now. Ideally we want to double the run size, but can't afford that just quite yet.

 

[Mrs. K]

I have found two or three days more than enough. I think you have a great advantage in that you have more chicks than hens. That will spread the pecking out over them all, there is only so much pecking a bird can do. Adding more chicks is much better than adding a single chick.

What I notice in your run, is that a chicken can see every other chicken at all times. Some small pieces of plywood, some roosts out in the run, some platforms where a bird can get under or on top of will help. Hidden feed bowls behind a small piece of plywood will help.

But really I think you probably could just lift your separation fence a few inches off the ground and let them work it out. But I would anticipate very few problems. Once in a while you will get one bird that is just merciless. But you would be noticing that excitement across the fence. If there is none, I would lift the fence.

Mrs K

 

[KHasChickens]

I have found two or three days more than enough. I think you have a great advantage in that you have more chicks than hens. That will spread the pecking out over them all, there is only so much pecking a bird can do. Adding more chicks is much better than adding a single chick.

What I notice in your run, is that a chicken can see every other chicken at all times. Some small pieces of plywood, some roosts out in the run, some platforms where a bird can get under or on top of will help. Hidden feed bowls behind a small piece of plywood will help.

But really I think you probably could just lift your separation fence a few inches off the ground and let them work it out. But I would anticipate very few problems. Once in a while you will get one bird that is just merciless. But you would be noticing that excitement across the fence. If there is none, I would lift the fence.

Mrs K

Thank you for the reply! What you say makes a lot of sense. My husband doesn't want a "cluttered" pen, but having a few places for the chicks to escape/eat unseen to would be beneficial. There are three roosts currently in the pen. Only my littlest one, a speckled Sussex who has always been way smaller than the other chicks of the same age has not decided to roost on one of them yet. I do know she can get up that high when she wants to...she did it in the brooder box and I was so excited, it was like her final chick test to pass. I was very worried about her for a while, but she is very spunky now--just small. In the coop the bars are higher, so I may add a little "ladder" of sorts to allow her to get up there more easily.

I bet if I put a piece of wood in front of the big opening under the mini coop, that would serve as a great place for chicks to hide from the big girls if needed. They can still go in and out through the cinderblock holes as well as around the piece of wood. Your idea about lifting the fence a few inches is great too. I was planning on a little door....but lifting the whole fence a few inches would do the same thing and allow much easier escape and more opportunity for interaction. It would also allow us to split the run a bit more evenly, giving the older girls a bit more wing room, while still having a large safe "chick only space" till we see how they really do together.

I think I will also make the minicoop door temporarily smaller so that only the chicks can get in. No big girls once the time comes for the fence to be gone, until everyone migrates to the big coop--hopefully on their own if given enough time--they will soon outgrow the minicoop.

Thank you for your ideas and for helping me think this through. I am very interested to see how it goes...I expect one of my elder girls to be a bit of a bossypants, but once the others get bigger, I think there are a few that will give her a run for her money for top chicken, if their personalities hold true. Thanks again!

 

[KHasChickens]

Update if anyone wants it....we raised the fence a few inches and took down the above chicken wire, so we just had the "gate" across the middle. Seemed to work well at slowing down the bigger girls but everyone has taken turns up on the gate as a perch. When the boss/dominant chicken gets up there, they all run for cover, but so far, no one has gotten more than one peck or so, and she hasn't landed on anyone. They all give her space. Given that this is my first time with chickens, I'm having to adjust to the realities of the pecking order, but trying to respect their chicken way of doing things. I figure if Hope (go figure) gets too bossy, I will use the minicoop as a timeout for her.

We had been putting the chicks in the minicoop at night, but the last two nights we found two of them roosting on top of it because they could not all fit comfortably on the bar anymore, so we decided it was time to move them in with the big girls. Hoped and prayed it would go smoothly. Locked the big girls out yesterday morning and put the chicks in for a few hours before it got really hot, then opened it up and let them figure their way out of it and then mingle in the yard. I think one of the elder girls actually went in and "encouraged" them out into the pen, but she didn't peck at them...she does a warning noise and they all get out of the way.

Last night we didn't open up the minicoop, and found them after dark all roosted around it and on top of it, so we went out an transferred them into the big coop where the older girls were already roosting in a corner. Put a little light in there too so they could see what was going on since it was after dark. Took about 5 minutes of chicken chaos and then all of them were up on the roost together peeping away--the big girls were like "what the heck!" but they did not peck or try to run them off, maybe because it was night. I got up very early to open up the coop and one of the big girls hurried out, and then the others took their time....figuring it out all over again, I think. Tonight we will do the same thing again, and hopefully in a few days, they will all just go in there on their own. Fingers crossed. It's a small coop, and not a walk-in, so we can't just take them in. We did try to make a little area for them to hide under if they need to similar to what is outside--cinderblocks with a piece of plywood on top. Didn't seem used this morning. Everyone was all in a tizzy once out in the pen, but I guess that is to be expected--hopefully in a day or two everyone will be into a new routine and the big girls will be over having to share their coop with 8 new kids.

In any case, thank you for your help. It's been a hard road to get here after losing our flock and all the associated trauma, but it felt so good to see them all roosting in the same coop together. Hope it continues well...our two big girls are approaching 17 weeks, so eggs are hopefully soon in our future!

 

[Mrs. K]

I think you are over the worst of it, and it will get better soon. I am in a do over, and hoping so hard for eggs in August.