Mixing Chicks with Teenagers

[GeekiTurtle]

I agree with debid. I would fence off a corner, put the baby chicks there, with feed and water. Leave them there for the morning. Let things calm down. Then, I would just lift the fencing off the ground a few inches. So the chicks can get out, and get in, but the bigger girls cannot. The chicks will explore on their terms, staying quite close to the safety zone at first, braver as time goes on.

Also add a pallet, laid flat in the middle of your run, up on top of some rocks or bricks, just lifted off the ground, set that away from the safety zone - just gives then another safety escape.

I too, get mine in the flock at about 3 weeks. At those temperatures they do not need heat, but do need wind protections and deep bedding.

Pictures can be deceiving, but what is more than enough room for chicks, rapidly becomes not enough room for full grown chickens. By my count, you have 32 birds. That is going to need quite a bit of space, or you can get very ugly behaviors. For 32 birds, I would want a run of at least 320 square feet, so 16 feet by 20 feet? If problems start to happen, it might be your space.

Do know that being raised together, or let out to free range a couple of hours a day, do not make up for a lack of space. Just pay attention.

MRs K

Thank you for your reply. Its very informative.

with regards to space, my current estimates are as follows:

Adults (Zulu):
2 hens
1 rooster
So 3 Adults

Teens (Boschveld):
10 hens
4 roosters (ridding of 3)
So 11 Teens

Chicks (Zulu):
18 straight run so expected
9 hens
9 roos (ridding of 8)
Keeping a roo chick to replace the adult roo, so 10 chicks

So the flock once all grown should comprise of 2 roos and 21 hens.

23 chickens so 23 m^2. I think I've got more than enough run space the only problem I think I'm going to have is roost length but I'll sort that out later.

 

[GeekiTurtle]

Is it possible? Yes, it is possible. It might work, it might not.

Concerns:

Sometimes the older will kill the younger. It could be just one of the older will actively search out a younger to kill or they could operate in a mob. A lot of this has to do with the personality of the older and you cannot tell that until you try.

Sometimes they mingle very well but often they form two separate flocks. If the younger get too close to the older they might get pecked, so they soon learn to keep their distance both during the day and at night. They need enough room to avoid the older. If they don't have enough room to run away if they get pecked (a warning to get away from me) or enough room to stay away when the older flock is wandering around then they can't take that warming and get away so the older can continue pecking.

A peck to warn them away isn't a big deal as long as the chick runs away. If you see a chick getting its head continually pecked that is a critical situation. Pecking a hole in the skull is how they kill them. If you see that behavior, stop it immediately.

The more room you have the better, both during the day and at night. Adding clutter can greatly improve the value of what room you have. Clutter means things they can get under, behind, or over to help break line-of-sight. You do not want them to get trapped so make sure they have a way to escape if they get chased.

Having separate feeding and watering stations can help so the young can eat and drink without being bullied by the older. This does not mean separated by only 1 meter. It means very widely separated, maybe in the coop and in the run. It really helps if you have clutter to break line of sight between the feeders and waterers. I have a feeder and a waterer in the coop, two more feeders and two waterers widely separated in the run.

I'd suggest housing the younger where the older can see them for about a week so they can get used to each other before you turn them loose. Hopefully you already have that. This gives you an immediate place to put them if it doesn't work out where they can still see each other. Then turn them loose to mingle one morning when you can be around to observe.

People do this successfully but sometimes chicks die. I've had broody hens wean their chicks at three weeks, leave them alone with the flock to make their own way. The flock included adults and teenagers. You don't get guarantees one way or the other with living animals but you have a decent chance at success. I'd try it.

Good luck!

Thank you for your response. I'll keep that in mind to break up the space. I can also lift the nesting box a bit so the chicks can run underneath.