Integrating chicks into flock at 4 weeks old.

[aart]

Yes. I've read your article several times. I've also seen your Coop build and noticed you have separate sections for every possible situation. Mine is much less elaborate.
So yours are actually within view of the bigs before the 2nd week? I'm hoping I can move mine by week 3, and open the adjustable doors, week 4.


Jeez, just went back and read it again. Very first paragraph says they went in the coop at 1 week. I guess I'm too transfixed on the picture to read the first sentences.

Haha!! I know, Right!? I often miss the text for the pics!

No power in your coop?
Guess you don't need it for winter water.
Too far for extension cord?

 

[MarkLeavenworth]

I've been integrating mine at about a week old! As long is there is fresh straw and enough chicks (6 or so) that can huddle together, I connect their cage to the flock run with a tiny door. They tend to get stuck in the evening and huddle wherever they end up when the sun goes down, so you want to be able to position a heat lamp wherever they might end up, if needed.

The process might go easier if you have a roo or two in the flock. My hens never seem to get aggressive with each other or the new chicks. The Roos take an interest and are the first to let the chicks scurry under them. After a week or so, a hen or two become the adopted mothers.

IMG_1038

• MarkLeavenworth
• Jul 20, 2017

Something seem familiar about those chicks, Mr. Roo?

 

[aart]

They tend to get stuck in the evening and huddle wherever they end up when the sun goes down

This is why I wait until about 3-4 weeks.....and make sure they can find their way in and out the doors by 'herding' them back and forth for 'practice'.

Have seen cockbirds guard baby chicks for hens with evil intent.....
....this years batch tho he was one of the most aggressive towards them.

 

[MarkLeavenworth]

This is why I wait until about 3-4 weeks.....and make sure they can find their way in and out the doors by 'herding' them back and forth for 'practice'.

Have seen cockbirds guard baby chicks for hens with evil intent.....
....this years batch tho he was one of the most aggressive towards them.

Those are good points that should be considered for anyone trying this. I might just be lucky with my current flock where the hens and roos are not aggressive towards the chicks. Also, the chick's cage is attached to the yard at a place where they can't go very far from the opening when they run out. Even then they tend to get 'lost' for about an hour in a corner (2 feet from the opening) when they first venture out on the first or second day.

 

[buterflysbeauty]

I am very interested in trying out this method with my two 6 week old orpingtons. My flock free ranges all day, should I keep them in the run? Right now I have 3 other chicks (6 weeks) with a mama hen in the flock. Do you think the other chicks (2 bantam cochin x, 1 silkie) will have any issues with the brooder orpingtons? I don't have set up to have a cage in the coop with access to run in.

 

[aart]

I am very interested in trying out this method with my two 6 week old orpingtons. My flock free ranges all day, should I keep them in the run? Right now I have 3 other chicks (6 weeks) with a mama hen in the flock. Do you think the other chicks (2 bantam cochin x, 1 silkie) will have any issues with the brooder orpingtons? I don't have set up to have a cage in the coop with access to run in.

Probably not a problem for the broody chicks,
but mama might have other thoughts.

Having the chicks side by side 24/7 with the other birds is a key part of most integrations.
Chicks need shelter from weather and a door/opening that only they can fit thru.
Many ways to set it up.

 

[gonehencrazy]

My hen ditched her chicks at 4 weeks. I was wanting to wait to integrate the chicks when they couldn't fit through the fence anymore. But they kept getting out of their temp run so I let them in with the flock at about 5-6 weeks old. There is about a week difference in when they all hatched. The last two are quite petite being from CL pullet and Sapphire pullet eggs.

Things have gone well. The rooster would eat with them at first. But now all the chicks come running with the big girls for their mealworms treats. Some of the hens get after the...mostly the red sexlinks. The two littles are definitely leary of the flock.
They still have their own coop. I'd like for them to be bigger before crossing that bridge. The reds can be really mean about their roosting spots. One wouldn't let anyone on the bar but her.

 

[bruceha2000]

This year's 7 chicks were in the brooding area inside the coop from their 3rd full day of life (Meyer Hatchery). The older girls have always gone out the south door of the lower part of the barn. They wait for me at the door in the morning. The littles decided it was better to go in with the alpacas at the north end of the barn where there were no big chickens to harass them. At 2 weeks they discovered the alpacas' "always open door" and used that to get outside.

At 3 weeks Zorra (who raised the 2015 chicks) decided she would raise these as well. She stuck with them for about 6 weeks (they are now 13 weeks). She followed them out the alpacas' door until she decided she was done mothering. She hasn't gone out that door since. All the older girls are afraid of the boys.

Zorra moved the chicks from the brooder area to the 4' long community nest box at night at about 6 weeks. At 8 weeks I kicked them out and they were on the roost with the older birds (a full month later than the 2015 chicks), protected by Zorra. A week later she was done and some of the older girls (including Zorra) were picking on them on the roost. They went back to the community nest box, I blocked it off and they went to the open nest boxes. It was easier for the 2015 chicks since Zorra was on the roost with them for a full month.

For better or worse, I put up a roost post in the next stall over (safe except against weasels) and they have been sleeping there ever since. They are SOMETIMES in the same area of the alley as the older girls but mostly hang out at the alpacas' end because they get chased by some of the older girls. Especially Penelope, I guess she is trying to keep them below her at the bottom of the pecking order. The 2015 chicks stayed as a pod when Zorra dumped them but she had shown them all the primo spots around the house outside the gate between the barns. She only took this batch out that way once that I know of since they kept going out the other end of the barn while all the older girls waited for me to show up at the south door. The current chicks have never gone out the gate between the barns and up near the house to my knowledge.



I got an unexpected cockerel in my order this year. I am waiting to see if/when Trouble gets his machismo up and starts controlling the older girls and if he will specifically protect his "sisters" from them. I do want them all in the "Fort Knox" coop with the auto door.

 

[Patti Hilton]

It's been a while since ive done this I did intergrate my chicks(that I incubated) about 5 weeks they are 15 weeks old now then I had a hen sit and hatch a 2 she kicked them out and I've noticed that the big girls are all meaners,, or is this a pecking order?

 

[bruceha2000]

Pecking order. I don't know why Zorra, who raised the chicks turns on them. They obviously see her as a "superior". Penelope is a 2 Y/O EE, bottom of the flock and is the most likely to chase the younger chickens. I think she is trying to keep them in their "place" below her. Isn't going to work long term, I'm sure Trouble (the cockerel) will put her in her place soon enough. First he will have to get tired of it AND realize he is bigger than she is. The other Barnevelder and the 2 Welsummers will be bigger than Penelope as well I think. The Exchequer Leghorns will be smaller be but being a Mediterranean breed, may be feisty enough to run her off at some point.

My minimal past experience suggests the younger ones know to run from the older ones that feel the need to exercise their "superior status" and it takes a fair bit of time before they are brave enough to say "ENOUGH"! Then, what goes around, comes around. You made your nest, now you lie in it (so to say). Penelope will likely be near the bottom of the flock, if not the bottom. Sucks to be you honey, maybe you should not have been mean to them