- Aug 5, 2009
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I got an incubator as a birthday gift in December, and on Christmas an egg hatched. The resulting chick was named "Chirpy" and he has grown amazingly fast. He started life in a bird box my wife brought home from her vet clinic(shes a small animal vet), then he went to living in a large bathtub in our master bathroom. He's nice, loves to be held and is a really cute little pullet. But he's getting big now that he's at two months of age and though I wasn't home he even let out a crow the other day.
This is Chirpy at birth:
This is Chirpy at one month of age:
I had been photographing him with his egg for size reference, he stomped it during that shoot. That was his last portrait, I'm a photographer and I've been to busy to work at home. But I'll shoot him again on the 25th. In the last month he has more than doubled in size and is fully covered in feathers now.
Anyhow, this is Chirpy's dad, his name is Elmo:
Elmo, Chirpy's mom who is named Rock, and two other hens(black and Red, not the most creative names eh?) live in our coop, we only have a few chickens as we just eat the eggs.
Anyhow the reason I'm posting this is for the sake of getting advice as to how to introduce our little house chicken to the big yard birds without getting him pecked to death. I know he is going to be getting competition from dear old dad.
This is Chirpy at birth:
This is Chirpy at one month of age:
I had been photographing him with his egg for size reference, he stomped it during that shoot. That was his last portrait, I'm a photographer and I've been to busy to work at home. But I'll shoot him again on the 25th. In the last month he has more than doubled in size and is fully covered in feathers now.
Anyhow, this is Chirpy's dad, his name is Elmo:
Elmo, Chirpy's mom who is named Rock, and two other hens(black and Red, not the most creative names eh?) live in our coop, we only have a few chickens as we just eat the eggs.
Anyhow the reason I'm posting this is for the sake of getting advice as to how to introduce our little house chicken to the big yard birds without getting him pecked to death. I know he is going to be getting competition from dear old dad.
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...I would wait until he's older and can defend himself or introduce him gradually...like in a separate cage/coop this way the others can get to know him and not hurt him. After a while of them all being able to see each other(maybe a week of that) then maybe if you have a smaller hen or banty would be ideal you could put her in with him and let them bond. After a while of that(maybe a couple weeks?) then reintroduce both of them back to the flock. The ideal thing would be for the flock and "Chirpy" to very gradually get to know each other. Having one baby is so much more complicated...maybe you could pick up a few chicks his age on craigslist or the feedstore if you don't have a small hen or banty hen around and then do the same process with them...keep them outside with the flock but in a seperate pen for a while and then when you feel they are big enough to defend themselves or run fast enough!...then try intergrating them all together. You'll really have to be on your toes...mature chickens can be really mean and if not kill them they could bully them into a tissy! Sorry for the confusing answer...maybe someone else may have a more simple solution. This is just kinda based on what I had to do with my new chicks. Best of luck! Keri
