New to chickens, and need help!

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HickoryChick

HickoryChick

In the Brooder
5 Years
May 2, 2014
9
4
37
I am very new to raising chickens. Have wanted to for awhile now, but my husband wasn't on the band wagon. Then one day about 4 weeks ago, he surprised me with 24 (yes 24!) baby chicks in a 150 gallon tub and a plan for a coop. Awww. Thank goodness for this site, that's all I have to say. Talk about a crash course in chicken raising.

The one thing I didn't know was how fast they grow. Needless to say, I had to get another 150 gallon tub, and I separated them. The coop is still under construction and is awesome. Was supposed to be ready tomorrow, but probably won't be until the day after.

My greatest fear occurred today. They started to peck. I put that poor chick by herself into an infirmary, and she seems okay.

My question is, when I put them all back together into the coop, how should that be handled? They have been apart for a week or so. Will they remember each other? What about the pecked chicken? She had blood on the base of her tail feathers. We put some blue-coat on her. Should we wait to introduce her until she is completely healed?

I know that the situation they are in is far from ideal, and has been stressful for us all. It was just a matter of time before they would start pecking. They are just so confined. Rain delayed the coop building. After all this, I want to ask my husband, "what should come first, the chicken or the coop? I know the answer!

But, I'm hooked. I love my chickens! This weekend, they will be free of their brooders!
Reply
 
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Welcome to BYC!

So sorry you are having all these troubles. But cramped birds do become aggressive. If this was my situation, I would try to mix them all together at the start. Because this is a brand new coop that they have never seen, this will keep them off guard of being aggressive. I have mixed completely new adult quail to new digs with very little if any aggression because the coop and run or area is brand new to them and they are more interested in their safety than they are pecking at each other.

Just make sure the one with the wounds has no raw skin showing and it is healed over. If she is bare in this spot, keep the blu-kote on at all times til the feathers regrow in. If her wound is still raw or open, you will need to keep her separated until it is skinned over. But keep her right within the flock so they all see her.

I would also lock all these birds in the coop for a couple days so they know here home is.

Good luck with this mixing and keep us posted on how it goes!
 
HickoryChick said:
I am very new to raising chickens. Have wanted to for awhile now, but my husband wasn't on the band wagon. Then one day about 4 weeks ago, he surprised me with 24 (yes 24!) baby chicks in a 150 gallon tub and a plan for a coop. Awww. Thank goodness for this site, that's all I have to say. Talk about a crash course in chicken raising.

The one thing I didn't know was how fast they grow. Needless to say, I had to get another 150 gallon tub, and I separated them. The coop is still under construction and is awesome. Was supposed to be ready tomorrow, but probably won't be until the day after.

My greatest fear occurred today. They started to peck. I put that poor chick by herself into an infirmary, and she seems okay.

My question is, when I put them all back together into the coop, how should that be handled? They have been apart for a week or so. Will they remember each other? What about the pecked chicken? She had blood on the base of her tail feathers. We put some blue-coat on her. Should we wait to introduce her until she is completely healed?

I know that the situation they are in is far from ideal, and has been stressful for us all. It was just a matter of time before they would start pecking. They are just so confined. Rain delayed the coop building. After all this, I want to ask my husband, "what should come first, the chicken or the coop? I know the answer!

But, I'm hooked. I love my chickens! This weekend, they will be free of their brooders!
Reply
Click to expand...

Free of the brooder! That is what I think your problem is and probably where the picking came from. You did the right thing by separating them and putting her into infirmary. Looks like you got that chicken keeper instinct! Keep it up! But we all need advice and help once in awhile and you found a good site for advice!

When you re-group them back into the coop. I would assume that they will definitely go thru pecking order again. Their may be some "light" friendly pecking is what I call it and some co-motion as they go thru displaying, roosting and hierarchy behaviors. It should calm down with in the first two weeks and then they should settle into themselves and the coop. The good thing is that you will be introducing them ALL together into a NEW environment (the coop). If you were to stagger their introductions, I would assume you will have more problems as you establish the first group into their environment and then the second comes along and challenges the first group! You don't want that! So yes, introduce them ALL TOGETHER. Your problem right now is SPACE, that's why their pecking and being rude to each other. You shouldn't see that once you coop them into the proper space requirements. Don't expect instant results but results with in the first two weeks. You might be surprised.

Introduce the damaged bird also at the same time to establish order but keep her separate. How do I do that you may ask? If you have a open dog crate, I'd put her in that and then put that inside with the other chickens in the same coop. That will keep her separate but "with" the rest of the coop so she can be safe and still integrate. I would not add her later as you will be re-creating the problem I told you would happen with staggering. I introduce all of my "newbies" this way and it works great with no blood shed!

Hope this all helps! Good luck and remember we are all in this together!
 
Thank you so much for all of your information. It was extremely helpful. We are actually building a little cage inside the coop so whenever we need to separate a bird, we can. Now I feel confident about the big move. Thanks again.
 
HickoryChick said:
Thank you so much for all of your information. It was extremely helpful. We are actually building a little cage inside the coop so whenever we need to separate a bird, we can. Now I feel confident about the big move. Thanks again.
Click to expand...

Your welcome. A separation area. That's pro! Good luck with your new venture!
 
Hello :frow and Welcome To BYC! That was a crash course on chicken keeping! Good luck with your flock, you've gotten some good advice above!
 
Welcome to BYC
frow.gif
You got some excelent advice here. Continue with the Blu-cote on her wounds, it will mask the blood and redness, which attracts the other chicks and makes them peck it more. Hope she heals up soon and they'll settle and live happily together in their new coop.
 

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