Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[saysfaa]

nevermind

 

[Frankiegirl]

So my good luck appears to have run dry….my dad was checking out the coop today and noticed everyone was inside at about 2pm. The little’s fence that segregated them was down in the run and no one dared to leave the coop when I came in.

After a couple of minutes the bigs came out to investigate and the littles didn’t move. 2 minutes after I came in…the bigs retreated back to the coop and didn’t come out.
After further investigation, it appears 3 of my littles have marks on their combs….nothing terrible but you can’t tell they got nailed. looks like the pecking order has begun. They are separated right now.
Crap…it thought I was home free. NOPE

 

[Sally PB]

The littles are out and about now. Lark reaches her head through the (2x3 welded wire) fence as far as she can to try to grab them. She got the Jubilee Orpington hard enough to make her squawk and pull out a few feathers. So far, Lark is the only one who wants to peck at them, that I've seen.

@Mfranks, good luck for both of us!

Our power is out right now. There is a small bulleye of outages right where we are. Estimated restoration time is 6:15, so not very long. Just hoping that the whole house comes back on!!

 

[Sally PB]

Yay. The power just came back on at 4:07. The whole house. Whew.

 

[RaZ]

Yay. The power just came back on at 4:07. The whole house. Whew.

Losing power here is a pretty common event. Three times since the end of winter here. That's actually fewer than what is normal.

 

[aart]

The little’s fence that segregated them was down in the run

You've just begun!
'Littles' here are 16-17 weeks old ans still getting chunks of feathers removed regularly,
and their separator fence has been down since about 6 weeks.

 

[Frankiegirl]

So I just brought out one of the littles and put her into the fenced in area and the bigs attacked her it was gang warfare! All of them.

Laverne was squawking and running for her life. I’ve never seen that before.
Should I reinforce the fence area in the run and bring the littles back out? Drama!!!

 

[Frankiegirl]

You've just begun!
'Littles' here are 16-17 weeks old ans still getting chunks of feathers removed regularly,
and their separator fence has been down since about 6 weeks.

So this is the pecking order coming into play huh? Wow!! That was savage.

is it because the littles are getting bigger?

 

[aart]

So this is the pecking order coming into play huh? Wow!! That was savage.

is it because the littles are getting bigger?

How long have they been outside with the barrier fences up?

Let me reiterate the....
Integration Basics:
It's all about territory and resources(space/food/water).
Existing birds will almost always attack new ones to defend their resources.
Understanding chicken behaviors is essential to integrating new birds into your flock.

Confine new birds within sight but physically segregated from older/existing birds for several weeks, so they can see and get used to each other but not physically interact.

In adjacent runs, spread scratch grains along the dividing mesh, best if mesh is just big enough for birds to stick their head thru, so they get used to eating together.

The more space, the better. Birds will peck to establish dominance, the pecked bird needs space to get away. As long as there's no copious blood drawn and/or new bird is not trapped/pinned down and beaten unmercilessly, let them work it out. Every time you interfere or remove new birds, they'll have to start the pecking order thing all over again.

Multiple feed/water stations. Dominance issues are most often carried out over sustenance, more stations lessens the frequency of that issue.

Places for the new birds to hide 'out of line of sight'(but not a dead end trap) and/or up and away from any bully birds. Roosts, pallets or boards leaned up against walls or up on concrete blocks, old chairs tables, branches, logs, stumps out in the run can really help. Lots of diversion and places to 'hide' instead of bare wide open run.
Good ideas for hiding places:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/

 

[Sally PB]

Confine new birds within sight but physically segregated from older/existing birds for several weeks, so they can see and get used to each other but not physically interact.

Mine have had 1 week confined in the coop, separated in their own space. Today is their 6th day of access to the run, again, in their own space. I was thinking I would wait a minimum of 2 weeks before I'd open a panic door. @aart, is that long enough?

Today DH brought me (the chickens, really) a Wonderful Thing. It's a 2x4 skid from work. I told him I'd love to have another.