Looking for advice

[JMotuzick]

Not sure what to do... We have 13 hens and a roo, and 10 10 week pulletts in a separate coop. Hoping to make them one flock by winter. One of the hens is broody and in the big coop isolated box. We have 3 hens who have not yet healed from having there backs picked clean from the last roo, we had him over for dinner. I'm thinking of putting the 3 hens into the, otherwise empty (meatie) tractor for a few weeks so they can heal. All 3 where brooded together, never apart. I'd also like to put the 10 pulletts in the same tractor, then dump them all into he main coop one night. Any thoughts? I'm working on doubling the size of our run and adding a covered run too. Now they have a 8x12 coop(13 hens and roo) and a barren 20ishx55ish run. If I can get the 10 and 3 to mingle in the tractor hopping they will all get along better in a few weeks with the much bigger run. Am I off course?

 

[Mrs. K]

Not quite sure what you mean by barren run. What I would do, is clutter that run up. I would add roosts, pallets up on blocks, pallets leaned against a wall. I would add anything that they can stand on top of or get under. And I would throw some old hay in there. Add some multiple feeders, some behind mini walls, where a bird can eat out of the sight of the other feeders.

Then I would turn out the old girls, either in the yard or in the tractor, and put the chicks in there for the day so they can figure things out without being chased. If you want, occasionally give the chicks a little chase, so they figure out the hide outs, and escapes. Then close to dark, let the big girls in.

With that many pullets, it will spread the pecking around, they may get a couple of thumps, but I would be surprised if any of them got really abused. If so, pull out the meaner hen or hens and they go in the tractor for a couple of days until the others settle down quite a bit.

The injured hens will look like that till they molt, and then they will be fine. They don't need to be separated unless the flock is pecking at them. Separating birds in my opinion causes a lot of problems.

Good luck,

Mrs k

 

[JMotuzick]

Barren is my way of saying they have picked things clean! We have a few grass boxes, so they can get fresh greens. And I did make a A-frame from two pallets. I keep all the feeders inside so they stay dry. With our new covered run I was going to add both food and water outside. I should add the covered run is on the other side of the coop. In order to go from one run to the other they need to go through the coop.

The feathers are growing they just keep getting picked off again. 2 red spots on the tops of the backs. I’ve used blue-cote but they still peck.... as soon as a few grow they get picked off.

 

[JMotuzick]

I’m a bit worried about adding outside roosts, will they still go inside at night? We look them up at dusk and let them out in the AM.

 

[cmom]

Do you have some pictures you can post?

 

[JMotuzick]

I have a full thread of”coop repairs and adding run space” I don’t havr any pictures of the other side of the coop. I can head out and snap a couple....

 

[Ridgerunner]

I think you may be off course because of the ages of those 10 pullets. They don't need to be confined into a tight space with older hens right now. It is pretty common for mature hens to bully immature chickens when those chicks or chickens invade their personal space. If they have sufficient room the pullets should keep a respectful distance from the adults. It's generally when you shoehorn them into a tight space that you run into problems. I don't know how big that tractor is but I get really nervous when you talk about putting the chicks and three older hens in there together.

Have you noticed if there is a specific hen or few hens that are plucking those new feathers off? Usually there is one or two instigators and the rest just follow suit if they join in at all. If you can tell which hen or hens are doing the plucking you can try isolating them instead of the victims for a week or so to see if that changes their attitude. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. Or you can try isolating the victims until the feathers grow back. If the shaft is totally removed they should start growing back fairly soon. If a bit of shaft is left they will not grow all the feathers back until they molt. From what you describe it sounds like at least some have had the shaft totally removed.

Some photos would help see how you are set up. Especially where is that coop where the pullets are in relation to the main coop and run? Can you move it? Ideally the older chickens and younger should be able to see each other but not touch so they get used to each other.

It is hard to get specific without knowing exactly what you have to work with but my general approach would be to use the pullet coop (or something else) to take care of the pecking problem and house the chicks in that tractor where the rest of the flock can see them, ideally in the run. Maybe even build a fence across part of that run so you can isolate the pullets in there so they are just across a fence. Gates or doors so you have access can be an issue. Or move that pullet coop next to the run and put a pop door between it and the run. That would be my preference as you could leave it and always have a convenient place to separate or house chickens immediately available. After those chicks have been exposed to the adults a couple of weeks let them roam together in that big run during the day but let the pullets sleep wherever they wish at night. After they have peacefully roamed together in that big run for a few weeks lock them in that coop after they have gone to bed. I just toss them in on the coop floor and let them work out where they sped the night, they always manage. Then be down there early the next morning to open the pop door and see how they are getting along.

Lock up where they had been sleeping or totally remove it. They may put themselves to bed in the main coop the next night or you may have to move them in for a while after dark until they get the message. Do not expect them to sleep on the main roosts with the adults until they start to lay. It's possible if you have a lot of roost space but mine hardly ever do. Until they are mature enough to force their way into the pecking order (usually when they start to lay) mine find other places to sleep. That might be your nests, that might be somewhere else. I do this a lot and wound up installing a juvenile roost a bit lower than my main roosts, horizontally separated a few feet, and higher than my nests to give them a safe place to go that is not my nests.

The idea of putting things in the run is to give them places to hide under, behind, or above. Get them out of the line of sight of the adults. You might put a piece of plywood on something like cinder blocks so they can get under it, lean plywood or something against a fence to form a pocket they can hide behind. Some people put a table in there and even feed or water up there so they can get above the adults. It is pretty common when I open my pop door in the morning that the adults are on the coop floor while the immature chicks are on the roost avoiding the adults.

We all have our ow ways of doing this. I've kind of described how I go about it. That does not mean that anyone else's way is wrong, just different. With immature chicks my basic rule is to give them as much space as I can and do not force them into a tight space with the adults any more than I have to. I typically have brooder-raised chicks 5 weeks old roaming with the flock and sometimes sharing the main coop with the adults. These are the ones raised in my brooder in the coop. Occasionally when the main coop is crowded I'll sleep some in my grow-out coop until I eat a few to reduce crowding and them move some into the main coop. I typically go through three or four broods a year, some with broody hens and some incubator hatched and brooder-raised so I need to be flexible.

Good luck!

 

[JMotuzick]

Ridgerunner thanks for the advice. I’m going to get the new run finished today and push forward on doubling the main run. I have a small craigslist find free coop. It will go in the new bigger main run. It will be separate from where the hens are now. Once done I’ll put the pulletts in there and only in the new section of run. After about a week or two I’ll open the door and let them have both coops/runs.

I guess I need to decide if I want to put the pulletts in the “meat” tractor for the next 6-10 weeks? It’s 6x10 and has no nesting boxes or roosting poles. The pulletts are roosting in the grow out pen.

FYI the grow out pen is about 50’ from the hens and they can see each other but there is some weeds/grasses this time of year.

 

[JMotuzick]

Run space

 

[aart]

I have a full thread of”coop repairs and adding run space” I don’t havr any pictures of the other side of the coop. I can head out and snap a couple....

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/coop-repairs-and-new-run.1254935/