Introducing The Chicks

[XanderWiFi]

They have access and occasionally wander in there. I have seen them hanging out in there after the big ones have went to bed. The chicks have their own little bar inside of their coop but still prefer to sleep in the bedding from what I can tell.

I will try some lock outs on my next days off. I worry the little ones will go under and I will not be able to get them out lol. Not crawling underneath the coop for them haha.

 

[aart]

Yeah, your 'under run' is pretty low...can you access it from the other sides?
Might want to block it off.

 

[XanderWiFi]

No access points. I have extra hardware cloth that will do the trick.

 

[XanderWiFi]

Chicks have been going in and out of the main chicken coop and are exploring the ramp and inside when permitted by the big chickens. A couple of the big ones still chase them a little bit but all is peaceful for the most part in the run. Chicks go in and take the chicken's food now and barely eat any of their own at night. I actually need to expand the escape hatch to make it easier for them to get in and out but they are 1/2-3/4 size of the grown chickens at this point. They still move in two separate groups and imagine they always will for the most part. I wonder now what would happen if I just transplanted them in the main coop one night.

 

[XanderWiFi]

So what is the trigger point for when I just throw them in with the other girls at night?

 

[aart]

Whenever you decide to pull the trigger!

 

[XanderWiFi]

Oh boy. I just opened their escape door a little wider today. A thunder storm came through and all the little ones were inside the coop on the roosting bars. But a minute later I heard a squawk and out they came running as one of the bigger ones ousted them. There is still the one RIR that likes to corner them and scare the heck out of them which I am not sure what to do about. I imagine the bigger they get and the longer I wait the better they will be able to defend themselves once the mandatory confinement is enacted.

 

[aart]

There is still the one RIR that likes to corner them and scare the heck out of them which I am not sure what to do about.

As long as there's no blood, let it go.
There will always be some overt status dominance.
The only thing you can really do is get rid of the bully bird.

 

[XanderWiFi]

Ahhh. A little separation and pecking order reset?

 

[Mrs. K]

They actually will meld into a single flock, when the chicks begin to lay, up to that point they will be two very definite groups, and then one day little eggs show up, and they are one group.

You are over the worst of it, I would think.

Mrs K