TheGardnersGarden
In the Brooder
- Apr 11, 2023
- 8
- 21
- 24
I am looking into the best ways to integrate my flocks!
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So, Flock one is three hens and a rooster 1 year old. The second is 16 Hens 8 weeks old. The 8 week olds are just now going out. We built a bigger coop to house all 20. The 1 year olds haven't left their current coop yet. I was going to drag it into the same run and put up fencing between to start.Welcome to BYC. Glad you are here.
If you give us some more info, maybe the age range of your flocks, pictures of your setup, that will help folks to give you more spot on advice. Were they just two flocks housed in separate areas on your land, and now you are putting them into one coop?
the younger ones are atleast half the size of my older ones.With a size difference between birds, a one way gate works well. When you are dividing things, leave the fence 6-8 inches off the floor. Which sounds kind of crazy - but it lets the chickes explore on their terms. If they are getting chased, they can escape where the big birds can't follow.
That with clutter, hideouts and roosts will really help.
Mrs K
That works very well when chicks are small enough that hens cannot fit into the space. With OP's chicks being 8 weeks old, unless you're talking about 8 week old bantams and all standard or jumbo size adults, it becomes difficult to size the gap in such a way that all hens get excluded. Personally I've found 8 weeks to be the upper limit of when chick only openings will work, so you need to rely more on clutter at that age range and less on chick openings. I've had my heaviest hen squeeze herself through a gap maybe 4" wide (she wanted the chick's feeder).So, what she is describing is that you can have a fence that has spaces big enough for the little ones to go in and out, but the older hens don't fit, so they are forced to stay on one side. That works well with birds that have a big age difference.
I can't find a good picture online, but the fence may end up looking similar to the one in this photo, or you could have one off of the ground a couple inches like she was describing.