Integrating new chicks

[HJMimi]

I have a RIR rooster and 2 hens that are one year old. I just incubated some of their eggs and have 7 chicks. At one week old I moved their brooder to the coop with the other chickens. Once a day I put the chickens in the run and let the chicks roam the coop for about 30 minutes. I then put them back in the brooder and let the others back in. The brooder is a large dog crate with cardboard all the way around except the top. It is on a 3 foot stand. What is the best way to integrate from this point so that the existing hens and rooster will accept them?

 

[DobieLover]

Put the brooder on the ground and remove the cardboard.
Can you please post a picture of the brooder?
If you are using a brooder plate, I would continue to do what you are doing only leaving the chicks out for 3-4 hours instead of 30 minutes for another week.

Try to arrange things in the coop so there are places the chicks can hide under or behind where the hens cannot reach them. When the chicks are 2 weeks old, secure the door to the crate so it is only wide enough for the chicks to fit through and let them out after the adults have left the coop and leave the door open to the coop so the adults can come and go as they please and just sit in the coop and watch. More than likely, the chicks will be absolutely fine. A little chasing is fine but stop any real aggression. If everyone seems to be doing okay, leave the door propped open so the chicks can get back under their heat source for the night. They'll have themselves roosting with the adults in a sub-flock in a few weeks. They won't fully integrate until the pullets start to lay.

I highly suggest you rehome all the cockerels from the hatch. I like to give all my cockerels a start in the flock with the adults to tune them up and teach them manners before they get penned and rehomed as flock leaders.

 

[HJMimi]

Put the brooder on the ground and remove the cardboard.
Can you please post a picture of the brooder?
If you are using a brooder plate, I would continue to do what you are doing only leaving the chicks out for 3-4 hours instead of 30 minutes for another week.

Try to arrange things in the coop so there are places the chicks can hide under or behind where the hens cannot reach them. When the chicks are 2 weeks old, secure the door to the crate so it is only wide enough for the chicks to fit through and let them out after the adults have left the coop and leave the door open to the coop so the adults can come and go as they please and just sit in the coop and watch. More than likely, the chicks will be absolutely fine. A little chasing is fine but stop any real aggression. If everyone seems to be doing okay, leave the door propped open so the chicks can get back under their heat source for the night. They'll have themselves roosting with the adults in a sub-flock in a few weeks. They won't fully integrate until the pullets start to lay.

I highly suggest you rehome all the cockerels from the hatch. I like to give all my cockerels a start in the flock with the adults to tune them up and teach them manners before they get penned and rehomed as flock leaders.

 

[HJMimi]

Should I be worried about the grown ones pecking at the babies? They have tried to peck at them through the hardware cloth separating the run and coop.

 

[DobieLover]

Put it on the coop floor, tucked into a corner. Cover the top with cardboard and take it off the sides. Lower the heat plate a bit. I think that will be easier to manage.

 

[Buffbrahmabantam]

Should I be worried about the grown ones pecking at the babies? They have tried to peck at them through the hardware cloth separating the run and coop.

Yes, the adults can peck the chicks quite hard, probably even kill them. There is no love between them. I think you are doing quite well with your set-up. I can describe our set up if it helps. We have raised about 6 batches of ducklings and chicks from incubator to adults very peacefully.

We hatch eggs in the incubator and they live inside in a big tupperware bin (we live in a pretty cold climate, plus I love having chicks in the house, LOL) and slowly introduce the chicks to the flock for a couple hours at a time (like we will set the chicks outside on warm weekend days or afternoons when we are there to keep an eye on things) but always in a situation where the chicks can escape to an area they cannot be pecked to death. We have kennel panels meant for dogs set around their brooder and feed and the chicks can fit between the wires, but the large chickens cannot. The chicks do not have good self-awareness however and can easily get "lost" and wander outside the kennel and not know where their pen is. They will peep loudly because in nature, the hen would hear that and (presumably) come and rescue the chick. With our set up, that task is up to us humans so we only set the chicks out if we are going to be around to intervene.

We also give the adults treats (they love cheese and dried grubs) in their first several viewings and interactions with the chicks. With horses, I've heard people talk about trying to making sure there are good experiences associated with introducing something new. Then the animal associates the new with good. We want their first experiences with the chicks the be positive. We have two bantams who really don't like chicks when they are broody and this helps their attitude.

It also helps if the adults have room to roam. Ours roam over about 1/2-1 acre and if they have that much space, a lot of times they couldn't care less about chicks. They mostly leave them alone (other than trying to eat the starter/grower feed - our adult hens love starter/grower feed).

After a few months the chicks have always integrated very peacefully in our experience. There is no major turning point. It just happens naturally that as the chicks age they start hanging around the periphery of the flock, and then integrate. There is nothing more peaceful than watching the integrated flock out pecking in one of our pastures. I love chickens! Everyone just needs lots of time to see each other under low pressure, happy situations, and then they get along.

 

[DobieLover]

Should I be worried about the grown ones pecking at the babies? They have tried to peck at them through the hardware cloth separating the run and coop.

Chickens investigate things with their beaks. I have seen many chicks growing up here both with and without mothers to raise them get pecked by flock members. The vast majority of the pecks were investigative. Rarely, and only when the chicks were older, were they corrective.
If you have plenty of space and resources for the flock you should not have much to worry about. If any of your birds display aberrant behavior, watch them more closely. But very young birds blend in with adult flocks all the time.

This is a picture of 7 week old chicks roosting on their own with the adults.

​

Here they are at 9+ weeks spread out to the newly installed roost. Note the pullet roosted immediately next to the rooster.

 

[HJMimi]

Yes, the adults can peck the chicks quite hard, probably even kill them. There is no love between them. I think you are doing quite well with your set-up. I can describe our set up if it helps. We have raised about 6 batches of ducklings and chicks from incubator to adults very peacefully.

We hatch eggs in the incubator and they live inside in a big tupperware bin (we live in a pretty cold climate, plus I love having chicks in the house, LOL) and slowly introduce the chicks to the flock for a couple hours at a time (like we will set the chicks outside on warm weekend days or afternoons when we are there to keep an eye on things) but always in a situation where the chicks can escape to an area they cannot be pecked to death. We have kennel panels meant for dogs set around their brooder and feed and the chicks can fit between the wires, but the large chickens cannot. The chicks do not have good self-awareness however and can easily get "lost" and wander outside the kennel and not know where their pen is. They will peep loudly because in nature, the hen would hear that and (presumably) come and rescue the chick. With our set up, that task is up to us humans so we only set the chicks out if we are going to be around to intervene.

We also give the adults treats (they love cheese and dried grubs) in their first several viewings and interactions with the chicks. With horses, I've heard people talk about trying to making sure there are good experiences associated with introducing something new. Then the animal associates the new with good. We want their first experiences with the chicks the be positive. We have two bantams who really don't like chicks when they are broody and this helps their attitude.

It also helps if the adults have room to roam. Ours roam over about 1/2-1 acre and if they have that much space, a lot of times they couldn't care less about chicks. They mostly leave them alone (other than trying to eat the starter/grower feed - our adult hens love starter/grower feed).

After a few months the chicks have always integrated very peacefully in our experience. There is no major turning point. It just happens naturally that as the chicks age they start hanging around the periphery of the flock, and then integrate. There is nothing more peaceful than watching the integrated flock out pecking in one of our pastures. I love chickens! Everyone just needs lots of time to see each other under low pressure, happy situations, and then they get along.

Thank you so much for taking the time to share with me. I really appreciate it. I want my chickens to get along with their babies.

 

[HJMimi]

Chickens investigate things with their beaks. I have seen many chicks growing up here both with and without mothers to raise them get pecked by flock members. The vast majority of the pecks were investigative. Rarely, and only when the chicks were older, were they corrective.
If you have plenty of space and resources for the flock you should not have much to worry about. If any of your birds display aberrant behavior, watch them more closely. But very young birds blend in with adult flocks all the time.

This is a picture of 7 week old chicks roosting on their own with the adults.

​

View attachment 4100035

Here they are at 9+ weeks spread out to the newly installed roost. Note the pullet roosted immediately next to the rooster.
View attachment 4100034

Thank you so much for all your help! Your advice and the pictures are great. I appreciate you sharing.

 

[Wutthacluck]

I agree with the suggestions made here. By allowing the chicks to be in the coop safely with the rest of the flock they will all get used to seeing other. They'll still have to re-establish their pecking order but this is the easiest way. When my mama had her first 2 hatches I kept her and the babies in a crate in the coop. Once the babies started leaving the crate through the slats I then removed the crate. Anytime I've brooded bitties myself, I keep them in the house and take them to the run (mine all free-range the backyard but we kept the run in tact from when we started for this reason) for field trips. My orpingtons are always the first ones to come over to the run and look at the bitties. I've found doing it this way is the easiest for me and haven't had issues.