My chicks where freaking out

[OldHag]

I will try this again. Not sure where my thread vanish to.

I have been raising and tend chickens for my landlord for at least 8 years with the agreement that I would never have to pluck chickens again when he would cull them every couple years and start fresh.

This is the first time I have attempted to do it all myself from the start and the only difference is I had to do the brooder in the house instead of the coop because of the old hens that got dumped on me this last winter. Anywho...

I have been taking these 8 weeks old chicks out for field trips for about 3 weeks I think. The last week I have been taking them out to the chicken yard by the coop to get them familiar with the area and the other hens when they would come in periodically from free range..

I attempted to leave them out there tonight and they absolutely freaked out. So I brought them in with the intentions of culling the old girls and try it again with an empty coop. But they continued to freak out in here for a very long time. It sounds like they have quieted down finally but why did they do that. I am so afraid they are going to either hurt themselves or have a heart attack. I have 5 pullets and one cockerel. I also fear going in to look in on them for fear they will start acting up again.

Even tho I am going to clear out the coop before putting them back out there. I am worried about this happening again when I attempt to take 14 more out in about a month. What happen and why the freak out? It can't be all because of the old hens coming in to roost for the night, can it? Can it really be that simple? and How do I prevent this when I take the other 14 out?

And while I am here, can I take the other ones out at 6 weeks instead of 8 weeks? They haven't actually seen each other but they are in the same room and they all know of each other.

Hints tips and tricks would be greatly appreciated.

Babbling Idiot out

 

[chickenlover432]

welcome to BYC!! So sorry, can't help you with that.

 

[OldHag]

Thank You...

Everyone is in the yard together right now since they have scratch. But I am certain the old girls will find their escape soon. I don't know what to do. I need to get the younger kids moved to the bigger kids brooder pen. The box is getting to small for 14 chicks. Oh when are they smart enough to get out of the rain? They have a light in the coop cuz it is cold out there. 60 degrees right now.

 

[OldHag]

Problem solved.

If the neighbor wants them back she can have them. The old hens have been moved into the hay barn and giving the babies the coop. The yard should be finished tuesday. Temp fenced yard in place.

If the neighbor doesn't want them. One of 2 things will happen. Either they will learn to get along before winter or the old girls will go into the freezer.

Going to start taking the littlest 14 out as soon as the yard is finished and start way early on getting them all to play nice with the other six younguns. Age difference is only about a month or so.

 

[chickenlover432]

OK, you probably know more than I do in this case

 

[OldHag]

Thank You

 

[aart]

I would put an opening in the coop partition that the smallers can get thru but the biggers cannot get thru.
That way the smallers have a way to get away from the biggers. Eventually they will integrate themselves.

That's what I did with my junior flock with an age range of 6 weeks, but I used a large wire dog crate for the smallers.
Took maybe a month for them to all get along and I could remove the crate.

Best of Luck to you.

 

[OldHag]

*

 

[aart]

Thank you much...

I have a hole roughly 4in wide by 5in high without sawdust. The 5 littlest ones can get in and out with no problem but the little bigger ones seem to have to crouch a lot. I can always make the hole bigger, I just can't make it smaller very easily. I don't want to make it big enough that the 8 week old buffs can get in.

After the experience. I will not leave that hole open 24/7 until everyone can find it in a blind fear. And only about half of them have even found the hole. They have to find it on their own for their own safety.

Anywho, If you have any other thoughts, I would be very thankful.

Thankfully Little Roo is finding the hole quite fast Cuz Bandit wants to get him.. The one I was most worried about.

Absolutely!!

I took the door off the wire crate and covered the opening with 2x4 welded wire fencing and bent up one corner of the fencing until the smallers fit, once they got a bit bigger I as able to bend it a bit farther.

Just keep tweaking it until it works. Then show them where it is, maybe run some rope thru the mesh around the hole to make it more visible.

 

[OldHag]

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