mixing 11 week old chicks with established flock

lcronkr

In the Brooder
Apr 26, 2017
4
2
12
A while ago I got 12 new chicks to go into my flock of 18, but we were planing on getting rid of 7 of the 18. but it turned out one of our pullets was in fact a rooster, so we wanted to get rid of the rooster with the other 7 girls, but I have herd of bad things happening when you only have one chicken to mix. so I decided to mix All 12 with all 18. but after 2 weeks ( to this day) all twelve chicks have been huddled up in the corner. if thats not bad enough 4 of the 12 have gaping holes in their heads. I don"t know what to do. PLEASE HELP!! ( oh, i did put peck no more solution on their heads and I have been treating with rooster booster poultry wound spray.
 
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A while ago I got 12 new chicks to go into my flock of 18, but we were planing on getting rid of 7 of the 18. but it turned out one of our pullets was in fact a rooster, so we wanted to get rid of the rooster with the other 7 girls, but I have herd of bad things happening when you only have one chicken to mix. so I decided to mix All 12 with all 18. but after 2 weeks ( to this day) all twelve chicks have been huddled up in the corner. if thats not bad enough 4 of the 12 have gaping holes in their heads. I don"t know what to do. PLEASE HELP!! ( oh, i did put peck no more solution on their heads and I have been treating with rooster booster poultry wound spray.
Oh no poor baby chicks. You have got to take the 12 out of the pen with the old flock. You simply have to have another pen for new chicks or chickens. The older chicken will not accept new chickens.
 
I had good luck putting a small pen inside the main run, and letting the girls get to know each other for a few days. Then I put a little door in the pen, so the babies could get out, but the big girls couldn't get in. There were some moments of bullying, but no bloodshed and everyone is a lot more harmonious now. It's been about a week and a half since I started.

If your babies have any wounds, I think it would be best to get them out and let them heal completely before starting again. Good luck!
 
I had good luck putting a small pen inside the main run, and letting the girls get to know each other for a few days. Then I put a little door in the pen, so the babies could get out, but the big girls couldn't get in. There were some moments of bullying, but no bloodshed and everyone is a lot more harmonious now. It's been about a week and a half since I started.

If your babies have any wounds, I think it would be best to get them out and let them heal completely before starting again. Good luck!
They have already been isolated and treated
 
I had two hens about 16 weeks (Swedish Flower & Deleware) and I got an Easter Egger and Welsummer who are 8 weeks. I feel like my SF is picking on them. This is my first experience with chickens. its been 3 days and I see random pecking. Should I be worried?
 
I had two hens about 16 weeks (Swedish Flower & Deleware) and I got an Easter Egger and Welsummer who are 8 weeks. I feel like my SF is picking on them. This is my first experience with chickens. its been 3 days and I see random pecking. Should I be worried?
Shawn's momma, welcome to BYC. Yes I would be concerned and try what veramadera suggested in the above post.
 
I had good luck putting a small pen inside the main run, and letting the girls get to know each other for a few days. Then I put a little door in the pen, so the babies could get out, but the big girls couldn't get in. There were some moments of bullying, but no bloodshed and everyone is a lot more harmonious now. It's been about a week and a half since I started.

If your babies have any wounds, I think it would be best to get them out and let them heal completely before starting again. Good luck!
Welcome to BYC
 
A while ago I got 12 new chicks to go into my flock of 18, but we were planing on getting rid of 7 of the 18. but it turned out one of our pullets was in fact a rooster, so we wanted to get rid of the rooster with the other 7 girls, but I have herd of bad things happening when you only have one chicken to mix. so I decided to mix All 12 with all 18. but after 2 weeks ( to this day) all twelve chicks have been huddled up in the corner. if thats not bad enough 4 of the 12 have gaping holes in their heads. I don"t know what to do. PLEASE HELP!! ( oh, i did put peck no more solution on their heads and I have been treating with rooster booster poultry wound spray.

Interesting. I never mix chicks into a flock until they are feathered and are a bit larger. If they are tiny, they will get attacked more. I remember releasing a grip of new chicks into an established FBCM coop that I have. They hade plenty of room to run. The lead rooster tried to peck them, but there was far too many for him to keep up with. They will huddle in a corner for fear, until they gain their own confidence and deck resets itself. Now, everything is long organized, and there really is no fighting at all.
 
by "chicks" I can only assume you mean very young chickens. and if you can tell the rooster from the pullets , I assume you have about 12 week old chickens.
that is a pretty big age gap.
keep them separate until the chicks are at least 7 weeks older and there are not any more wounds showing on them. all chickens will peck at blood, no matter what their age is..

and if the flocks are confined, your introduction will be more difficult because the picked on ones cannot escape..

 

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