The thing with Tea Tree Oil is it is very bitter. So they don't like the taste.
When I first began to put my babies in with the hens, I put them in a rabbit cage inside the coop. The cage kept the babies safe from pecking but allowed them to be seen. After a week or so, I let them out of the cage, but made an area where the chicks could go to hide if they needed it but the hens couldn't.
I now have a large wooden fruit bin in the coop where I but my babies after I take them out of the brooder. it has chicken wire across one end with a heat lamp keeping them warm. The chicken wire allows the hens to observe the babies the entire time. When they get old enough, I open it up during the day and allow them to experience coop life but still close them up at night. After a while, it's not necessary to separate them at all. There is still a little bit of pecking, but that's normal in any coop.
hope this helps.
When I first began to put my babies in with the hens, I put them in a rabbit cage inside the coop. The cage kept the babies safe from pecking but allowed them to be seen. After a week or so, I let them out of the cage, but made an area where the chicks could go to hide if they needed it but the hens couldn't.
I now have a large wooden fruit bin in the coop where I but my babies after I take them out of the brooder. it has chicken wire across one end with a heat lamp keeping them warm. The chicken wire allows the hens to observe the babies the entire time. When they get old enough, I open it up during the day and allow them to experience coop life but still close them up at night. After a while, it's not necessary to separate them at all. There is still a little bit of pecking, but that's normal in any coop.
hope this helps.
