Introducing 8 week chicks to flock- with a mean hen

[Auntiejessi3]

Hi- looking for wisdom here I have black star (sex link) flock of 30 and I am realizing with 8 week chicks that they are super mean. I have them in adjacent run during day and one hen obsessively stalks and has gotten a bit in through the fence. Any suggestions? I’m afraid to finally do the full integration.. should I wait until chicks are bigger? BTW new chicks are EE and marans- such a difference in personality

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/change-of-plans.1454019/

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Absolutely possible to integrate before they are grown

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Absolutely possible to integrate before they are grown

If you read through my link there is a lot of great information from multiple folks on here and you can see how it worked out for me

 

[Iveta]

Hi- looking for wisdom here I have black star (sex link) flock of 30 and I am realizing with 8 week chicks that they are super mean. I have them in adjacent run during day and one hen obsessively stalks and has gotten a bit in through the fence. Any suggestions? I’m afraid to finally do the full integration.. should I wait until chicks are bigger? BTW new chicks are EE and marans- such a difference in personality

thanks for that post! I have the same problem with a bully hen, that stalks my other chicks and its not even a size issue anymore as the Pekin duck is huge-but once it got bit and bled by the bully hen it is scared of her; and the rest are putting up with her maybe because they see I feed her; only occasionally when she is busy with her sand baths and there is nothing of interest to her does she leave them alone..but most the time it is like constant instinct to claim a territory -and she came in last!

 

[Iveta]

So would you recommend 6 months? That’s my guess for size growth.. I appreciate the advice!

Well my little ones are bigger now- realistically they can fight her off single handedly- but in mental state of being abused, they have seen me put her away when she goes after them and their food - so when she does that now again they come to look for me instead

 

[CNJ]

This sounds like a smart plan. I had my new chicks in my house for 4 weeks and then took them out to coop that has a separate area for them but big girls see them through the mesh..same during the day. Hopefully with this much exposure by the time the chicks are big enough they will assimilate..yesterday that mean hen tried to get one thru the fence-again! Not sure what is up with her! Thanks again to all for wisdom and insight!!

My lowest ones in the pecking order were very aggressive, I guess they instinctively got to be that way or they will not get a chance to eat.

 

[Mamatomany123]

I introduced my babies at 3 weeks. They had a see but no touch setup from day 1.

 

[Tonyroo]

I recently took a different approach to integrating chicks. I hatched 10 chicks from one of my hen back on the 2nd week of April.

I kept the chicks for 5 days in the brooder inside my home. I then transferred them to a nesting box I modified to a brooder attached to the coop.

There 3 weeks old now and I have extended there space inside the coop with the adults. They are able to leave the coop if they want too and they have. My adults are watching the chicks but also leaving them alone. I'm very happy with the progression of this project cause I've never done this before.

It's such a contrast to my Dec. hatch, with those I kept them indoors for 2 1/2 months then tried to integrate them. The parents never accepted them and were constantly harassed by them. I ended up selling all the pullets and culled 2 of the 4 cockerels. The other 2 remaining cockerels will be culled at a later date.

I'm convinced this method I'm using now will be something I'll be doing often. I'm having good results.

BTW I did notice during the day when the chicks are out running around, the rooster dad would watch them for a while then he would try to mount one of the hens. Seeing the chick got him excited?

 

[Iveta]

Well my little ones are bigger now- realistically they can fight her off single handedly- but in mental state of being abused, they have seen me put her away when she goes after them and their food - so when she does that now again they come to look for me instead

I am just going by experience-it's always different, and I would also say it depends on the size of your flock; I have this problem now because my flock is small, but as a kid I remember at grandma's- while there were many chickens usually only the rooster(s) get to be moody and grandma would decide how much of that is safe and the rest get cooked )Hens are only meant to be in competition for rooster attention and not to pick on the young ones-this only means they want babies or missing on attention from the rooster or other flock members of their size and interest. What has helped me so far and it is working is that no one is getting food sooner or later and each animal gets own dish 6 feet apart-if they start doing musical chairs their food gets taken; pecking gets a water spray during the hot weather-helps with the panting too and it bring attention that this is seen and undesired act; so next time I look at the bully going after a chicken -she knows what she is not supposed to be doing. This may be a hen or a duck it doesnt matter-everyone gets same rules; no bullying over food-while the bully gets bigger the smaller ones get bullied even more and then they slow down growing and very often die.I lost an orpington this way month ago-very cute bird, but very sensitive, last to get food...

 

[Fluffybuttsgalore]

Hi- looking for wisdom here I have black star (sex link) flock of 30 and I am realizing with 8 week chicks that they are super mean. I have them in adjacent run during day and one hen obsessively stalks and has gotten a bit in through the fence. Any suggestions? I’m afraid to finally do the full integration.. should I wait until chicks are bigger? BTW new chicks are EE and marans- such a difference in personality

I have kept all my baby chicks in the house till they were 8 weeks old and moved them out in small groups of five depending on how many I have at the same age. I also have two coops that are separated by a gate as I used dog kennels to create their enclosures. The big chickens have a huge coop and there are 12 of them all different breeds and about 18 chicks outside right now. And what we do is let the little ones out in their side and the big ones out on their side and they mingle theu the fence. I also have one hen that is relentless with chasing and pecking at the babies. My daughter has taken that one hen and moves her to another area and we have no problems for awhile. We do let them all free range together and they seem to interact with each other of course the big chickens are all about the pecking order so frequently we hear a shriek and see a few feathers but other than that they seem to learn their place. I am just waiting till the little ones are a little bigger before they get moved into the big house. I also have 4 ducks in with the larger chickens and they seem to just ignore the chickens and do their thing.