Separation issues

[beckster01]

Here is my situation. I have a flock of 9 adult chickens (8 hens, 1 rooster). They are 4 years old so my husband had the brilliant idea to get more chicks. When I ordered them, I had to get them in 2 rounds to get the breeds that my sister and I both wanted and we split both orders. So what I have now are: My original flock (flock a), a flock of 5 chicks that are 6 weeks old (flock b), and a flock of 6 chicks that are 2 weeks old (flock c).

I moved flock B outside on Thursday they are in a large, covered, wire dog crate in the run with a heat lamp for cool nights. I haven’t opened them up to flock A yet, but they can see and hear each other. In that batch, I have one free chick (a Polish) and a random Easter egger that the hatchery sent by mistake. I’ve been assuming that both are male, but I am not skilled at sexing so I’m not 100% sure. Yesterday, the Polish was getting its head pecked bloody, I have no clue which chick did it but am wondering if that Easter egger is a male it might have been it (I will cull that one when I know what it is). I’m looking for the crate divider I have, but so far haven’t had luck with finding it. He was isolated overnight but really not happy about it, so this morning I’m sitting next to the brooder with him in with flock C to see how they do. Every now and then he’s had a staring contest with one of the 2 week chicks, but he is making happy noises. The other chicks are shy of him, but not upset (yet).

What do you guys think of this solution.. Besides finding my crate divider I can’t figure out another way to keep him outside while his wound heals. I do have a yorkie sized dog crate but it is a plastic one, and I think too small for him to be comfortable, he’d be spilling his water and food everywhere in it. I have a picture of him with flock c, do you think the size difference is too big? And how long would you give it to decide if they are getting along?

 

[NatJ]

Here is my situation. I have a flock of 9 adult chickens (8 hens, 1 rooster). They are 4 years old so my husband had the brilliant idea to get more chicks. When I ordered them, I had to get them in 2 rounds to get the breeds that my sister and I both wanted and we split both orders. So what I have now are: My original flock (flock a), a flock of 5 chicks that are 6 weeks old (flock b), and a flock of 6 chicks that are 2 weeks old (flock c).

I moved flock B outside on Thursday they are in a large, covered, wire dog crate in the run with a heat lamp for cool nights. I haven’t opened them up to flock A yet, but they can see and hear each other. In that batch, I have one free chick (a Polish) and a random Easter egger that the hatchery sent by mistake. I’ve been assuming that both are male, but I am not skilled at sexing so I’m not 100% sure. Yesterday, the Polish was getting its head pecked bloody, I have no clue which chick did it but am wondering if that Easter egger is a male it might have been it (I will cull that one when I know what it is). I’m looking for the crate divider I have, but so far haven’t had luck with finding it. He was isolated overnight but really not happy about it, so this morning I’m sitting next to the brooder with him in with flock C to see how they do. Every now and then he’s had a staring contest with one of the 2 week chicks, but he is making happy noises. The other chicks are shy of him, but not upset (yet).

What do you guys think of this solution.. Besides finding my crate divider I can’t figure out another way to keep him outside while his wound heals. I do have a yorkie sized dog crate but it is a plastic one, and I think too small for him to be comfortable, he’d be spilling his water and food everywhere in it. I have a picture of him with flock c, do you think the size difference is too big? And how long would you give it to decide if they are getting along?

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I think your solution sounds reasonable.
As long as the injured Polish (6 weeks) is not picking on the younger chicks (2 weeks), and as long as they are not picking on him, they should be fine together.

Putting him in with the little ones, rather than completely alone, means that he is still getting to practice chicken interactions, and you will not have to re-integrate him separately; plus it saves you having to set up and manage yet another pen of chicks. So I see quite a few benefits to doing it that way

As for how long to watch them together: if you have been watching for a few minutes already and nothing major happened, they are probably fine. If nothing major happens in the next day or two, it should be safe to treat them like any other group of chicks. (You might want to check on them more frequently in that first day or so. Doing chores nearby is often a good way to sort-of watch them for a bit, because that lets you hear anything badly wrong, like distress peeping or chicks running into the sides of their pen.)

 

[beckster01]

Thank you! I've been listening to them from the other room since I posted, but it makes me feel a lot better to hear that if there was a problem I'd probably be seeing it by now. This batch of chicks seem a lot more chill than my other ones, so maybe they'll be a happier cohort lol.

I can definitely see how isolating a chick causes way more stress than benefit, so hopefully this will work out better!