Old hens and new chicks

[dskowron]

I hate to do it but it needs to be done. It's the one thing about being a pet/animal owner that is a huge downer. Putting them down is the hardest thing to do.

 

[NatJ]

I hate to do it but it needs to be done. It's the one thing about being a pet/animal owner that is a huge downer. Putting them down is the hardest thing to do.

You could try a really simple method: put the chicks in with the hens and watch what happens. There is a small chance they will be OK right away. If they are, you can skip the culling. If they are not fine, you can put the chicks back in the brooder while you cull the older hens.

If you have a wire dog crate, you could put the older hens in that for a day or two (inside the coop) while the chicks explore the coop and get comfortable with it, then release the older hens and see how it goes. Again, no guarantees, but sometimes that is enough "introduction."

The big variable is that chickens are individuals. Some chickens integrate easily with any method. Some methods work with almost any chicken. But there are a lot of quick-and-dirty methods that work SOME of the time. So it you'd rather not cull the older birds, it may be worth trying one or more of the quick-and-easy ideas first.

But again, if you'd rather cull the hens, that is your choice. I have no problem with culling chickens-- just thinking of possible options, since it sounds like you would prefer not to cull them.

 

[dskowron]

You are absolutely correct in that I would prefer not to cull them. It's a real dilemma. The two that I have left over from the last flock have been, at various times, brutal to other chickens. One of them teamed up with her sister (now gone) and almost killed a smaller molting hen. If I hadn't seen it happen she would have been dead.

 

[NatJ]

You are absolutely correct in that I would prefer not to cull them. It's a real dilemma. The two that I have left over from the last flock have been, at various times, brutal to other chickens. One of them teamed up with her sister (now gone) and almost killed a smaller molting hen. If I hadn't seen it happen she would have been dead.

Yes, definitely a dilemma!

You might be able to provide spaces the chicks can go but the hens cannot.

This could be a brooder with a small opening, or a dog crate with the door blocked a certain amount open, or a pallet laying on the ground, or some boards on top of cinder blocks, or anything else that a skinny/short chick can use but a big hen cannot. Obviously this only works until the chicks grow big, but by then they will be bigger and they also outnumber the old hens.

Having several perches at various levels can also help, because that lets chicks move to different levels so the hens feel that "their" space is being respected.


Sometimes hens are mean to other ones that are close to them in social status, but ignore the ones way lower (like young chicks.) Other hens do go after chicks. I've had a few do it one way, and a few do it the other way, but I was not able to predict which ones would act which way.

 

[dskowron]

I'm wracking my brain trying to come up with something that will work for my particular situation. I have about two weeks to figure something out.
Funny story: About a year ago or so when our flock was 6 hens strong, a male pheasant showed up in our yard. We have 1.5 acres and the hens have full access to all of it (which is going to change with the new flock). We named him Phil. Phil the Pheasant. He hung around for about two weeks or so. The hens basically ignored him and eventually he was right next to them scratching around for bugs and such. Soon, he left in search of love. Then, a female showed up. While the hens didn't exactly love her, they tolerated her but when she got too close they sort of shooed her away. No attacks or anything, but they let her know she was too close to them. Eventually she also left - hopefully Phil found her. We named her "Freida". Haven't seen either of them since. Anyway . . . we thought that was pretty cool.

 

[dskowron]

We've decided to give it a try. Nothing to lose and if it doesn't go well we can always cull later. I came up with what I think might be a good way to separate them in the coop. Hopefully it works out.

 

[dskowron]

Here are the new pullets (one possible cockerel) getting ready to be integrated with the two old hens. The one we think might be a cockerel is the Columbian Wyandotte in the front - tail pointed downward. The others are a gold-lace Wyandotte and three eggers.

 

[dskowron]

One cool thing I realized over the past few days as we have been putting the new ones out in this makeshift cage is that the older two hens have been hanging around it doing all their scratching and pecking near them. They are becoming a flock all on their own! Right now the two older ones (and the rest of their flock which is gone now) were totally free ranging on our 1.5 acre parcel. That's going to end with the new flock. We fenced off about 3200 square feet or so for them to have to themselves. It has junipers and a blue spruce for them to hang out in and we're going to put in a large patch of sod for them also. Should be chicken heaven! There's also a water spigot in there for them. I'll put in an automatic waterer so they always have fresh cool water in this desert heat.