putting 6 weekers together with 2 weekers

[jamiebartlett]

Boy, I sure hope they get to likin eachother - at least tolerate would be nice. I mean, geez - they don't free range so there's not much getting away from eachother!

I don't handle the babies much. They were 2-3 weeks old from the feed store and so they are still afraid of me. i just walk in there and they all run to the corner trying to climb the wall, as if they can plow a hole through it and run away. IT's quite a funny sight, but I don't want to give them heart attacks - so Just once a day when i change food/water I touch each one of them petting them. I spend more time witht he older girls, feeding them greens and trying to get them used to being handled as well. I just don't want to miss that precious window when my big girls get to establishing pecking order and the wee ones have no hope! The older ones are 8 weeks old now. Ah they ahve grown so fast! Anyhoo, thanks for listening for me ramblin on.

 

[dreamgirl]

Well, I just introduced my new 13 week old roo to my 11 week girls. No blood!

In fact, the girls walked over to check him out, no prob. The my Turkin did a chest-banging attack, they traded a few blows and she walked a way. He gave a peck or two in the direction of my two dominant girls (still not sure what they are) and pecked two of the smaller ones on the head, and that was about that. He keeps his distance a bit--from me and them (he wasn't hand raised), but makes sure someone is in sight. They free ranged for a while and all was well. Maybe its because he and my bigger girls are the same size, or because he's used to a mixed flock. He is a bit of a food hog theough, but after a few hours he let the girls eat with him. We'll see how bedtime goes! The freind I got him from said she has never had a problem mixing ages. She's had chicken for like 20 years but does have a big coop and run and they all free range her farm anyway. Thanks all for the advice

 

[siouxbee]

I've put my 3 and 4 weekers in with my 7 weekers for almost a week now based on this post ;-) and I'm happy to report that things seem to be ok. The babies don't even use their safetyzone, just sort of run away to a corner or behind one of the other bigger ones that seems less inclined to peck at the moment.

Dont' get me wrong, there are still lots of those "Hey, I just got pecked" noises coming from the babies, but the cool thing is that at night they all cuddle up together on top of the crate (scrap wood and a small log on top) that the babies are supposed to be hiding in. I'm hoping that's a good sign and means they'll start getting along during the day more.

On a side note, I finally got the tractor finished enough to be able to put everyone sort of securely in during the day while I'm away. So when I got home today and was bringing them in for the night, I found that my 3 biggest girls had a little blood at the very bottom of their combs. All 3, same spot. Is that common as they start pecking each other, or do you think they got hurt on the hardware cloth or something?

 

[aran]

I took the plunge today too and put the (almost) 3 weekers out with the (almost) 7 weekers! The babies are in a large dog transport crate which has a steel grate door at each end. I put food and water in it for them and put the whole thing inside the enclosed run that the older chickens have been in. So far the big ones seem to want to check out the crate an the babies are not screaming so we will see. I just did this about 30mins ago. I will do this on a daily basis until I have the big run and coop set up and functional. It was delievered yesterday but in pieces obviously...there is many hours of work i would guess in setting it up!

 

[4H kids and mom]

Yay! I am so happy that I have been able to help so many of you here! Makes me so proud!

Stick with it and dont give up!