Here is the issue at hand. I have 6 - 4 week old chicks (3 ameraucana and 3 leghorn) in a large brooder. I also have 4 - 2 week old Buff Orpingtons in an attached brooder. Total of 10 chicks. They will all be moving into the coop on May 1st so I want to get them integrated in the brooder as soon as possible.
When I first brought the BO's home, they were 3 days old and the other chicks were 2 1/2 weeks. I tried putting them together immediately and the older girls just walked and jumped all over the babies. So I separated them. I will post a drawing of my brooder set up at the end of this post so you can see what I'm explaining... I cut an opening between the 2 brooders yesterday so that all of the chicks can come and go as they please. At first, the younger BO's were curious about the bigger brooder. Went in and started pecking at things. The older chicks went in the smaller brooder to check things out. I noticed the younger chicks would peck at any bigger chick that came near them and when one would get separated from the "huddle" they would chirp loudly. The older chicks were more interested in the food and water in the smaller brooder than the younger chicks. So I left everything like that for the night.
This morning I went to check on the girls and all 4 of the younger BO's were huddled and shaking in the bottom left corner of the big brooder (not under the heat lamp). All of the bigger ones were in the small brooder. All of the sudden one of the Leghorns came running into the big brooder right into the huddle and started pecking at all the babies! They were chirping and climbing all over each other and shaking. Poor things. I don't know if this leghorn (or more of them) had been harrassing the young ones all night. I didn't see any feathers missing or any bleeding on the BO's, but I decided to put them back in the small brooder and tape off the opening while I went to work. As soon as they were back in "their" brooder and the older chickes were back in theirs, the BO's were happy as could be. Eating and drinking like crazy.... like they hadn't had any food or water all night! I don't know what to do! How do I get them used to each other? Any advice or ideas??? Thank you for any help!
When I first brought the BO's home, they were 3 days old and the other chicks were 2 1/2 weeks. I tried putting them together immediately and the older girls just walked and jumped all over the babies. So I separated them. I will post a drawing of my brooder set up at the end of this post so you can see what I'm explaining... I cut an opening between the 2 brooders yesterday so that all of the chicks can come and go as they please. At first, the younger BO's were curious about the bigger brooder. Went in and started pecking at things. The older chicks went in the smaller brooder to check things out. I noticed the younger chicks would peck at any bigger chick that came near them and when one would get separated from the "huddle" they would chirp loudly. The older chicks were more interested in the food and water in the smaller brooder than the younger chicks. So I left everything like that for the night.
This morning I went to check on the girls and all 4 of the younger BO's were huddled and shaking in the bottom left corner of the big brooder (not under the heat lamp). All of the bigger ones were in the small brooder. All of the sudden one of the Leghorns came running into the big brooder right into the huddle and started pecking at all the babies! They were chirping and climbing all over each other and shaking. Poor things. I don't know if this leghorn (or more of them) had been harrassing the young ones all night. I didn't see any feathers missing or any bleeding on the BO's, but I decided to put them back in the small brooder and tape off the opening while I went to work. As soon as they were back in "their" brooder and the older chickes were back in theirs, the BO's were happy as could be. Eating and drinking like crazy.... like they hadn't had any food or water all night! I don't know what to do! How do I get them used to each other? Any advice or ideas??? Thank you for any help!
