Integration

[Gumiho1989]

Ok, background story

I have 4 baby California white (2 Male, 2 Female), 3 road isle reds, and 1 Rooster don't know the type. The babies are getting big and have been sleeping in the chicken run for about 1-2 months (i put them outside at like 5-6 weeks). I built another small quick chicken coop inside the run for the babies at night so the big ones don't attack them. I also sectioned off the chicken run. I took off the sectioning of the chicken run to integrated the chickens together. They just stay separate all the time. They are all free range chickens during the day and the big ones go in the coop at night, but the babies were just sleeping on top of the small one I built, so I would put them inside it at night. We'll its been a month now with the free ranging together and the adults are still chasing the babies (Only the female adults, the adult rooster is a punk). I need to get the babies inside the big chicken coop with the adults, but I don't want to lock them inside there and hope for the best. What should I do?

 

[lazy gardener]

How big is the coop? If it's big enough that there is 4 s.f./bird, and if there is enough roost space for all of them, I'd just stuff them in the coop at night, and let them back out early in the morning. Yes. They will yell. Yes, the big girls will not like it. That's what they do.

My pullets will be 10 weeks old on Tuesday. This week, I separated the gang of punk cockrells from the pullets and put the boys in the bachelor pad. The pullets have been moved into the big coop. The first night, I had to catch every one of them, and stuff them into the coop. The second night, with coaxing, about 1/2 of them went in on their own. Tonight, 2/3 of them went in on their own. I then herded the rest of them to the adult bird's run where they could access the pop door, and they ALL went in on their own. It took about 1/2 hour of squabbling: The pullets feel entitled to sleep on the top perch with the adults. The old biddies: "Not having it!!!" (not to mention that there is not enough room on the top perch for them all.) But, I expect it may take up to a week to get the pullets all trained to go to bed with the adults.

 

[Gumiho1989]

its about 3 s.f/bird (5x4 feet including nesting boxes, 3 foot roof peek) including the nesting box. there are 2 3' roosts in there, im not going to put them in there tonight ill add another roost in there tomorrow.

 

[lazy gardener]

Don't include the nest boxes in your sq. footage. (unless there is walking space under the nest boxes.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Chickens will be chickens and that is true regardless of the breed, type, or strain of chicken. It is perfectly NORMAL for chickens to act like little hellions towards each other, at least among age classes other than their own. I didn't say that you had to like it, just that it was normal chicken behavior. Trying to raise young and older chicks together in the absence of a mother hen is extremely difficult.

 

[azygous]

Doing the math with the numbers you hinted at, these youngsters are around three months old? That's plenty old enough to be able to handle the social order in the flock.

The chickens are all well acquainted by now, having lived in proximity with one another for all these weeks so it should be only a minor adjustment moving the youngsters into the coop.

No need to coop them up. They know where home is, but you will need to get rid of the "baby coop" or they will insist on returning to it and not the big coop.

If you have a perch arrangement in the coop where there are going to be youngsters roosting next to adults, you might figure out how you could put up temporary or even permanent dividers on the perches. I have curtains hanging down from the ceiling of my coops at several points over the perches so I can separate those who don't want to get along. I have one in the coop with my single two month old chick so she doesn't get hammered by the mean tempered hen who shares the perch with her. It works out great.