So worried.....

[NanaLantana]

Many people feel sorry for the 'underchickens' but that is the way chickens operate! The adults have to teach the young ones manners, and it's not always pretty. If there are no injuries, and the chicks have some stuff to hide behind, they are able to eat and drink, then all's well. That's how chicken life goes. The little ones eventually grow up and get respect from the others, especially when they begin laying.

Too often we try to attribute huiman behavior and feelings on chickens! Chicken life doesn't work that way. But it works well, anyhow! Don't fret over it!

 

[chickengal30]

Thanks for your reply Nanalantana (and everyone else too)

Lantana Florida, I lived there 21 years ago when I was first married........ did I say 21

whew, that ages me!

Oh and I love your bags, when I next get feed (which wont be for awhile yet, just started a 50lb bag) Ill get it in one of those sturdy bags and send you it, Id love one of your bags!!!

Thanks again, feeling much better about the girls.

 

[azygous]

Merging different aged chickens can go a lot smoother if you just provide a small pen where they small fry can go to be safe. I call it a "panic room". It has pop holes, the more the better, that are too small for the older chickens to get through. The chicks have their own food and water inside, and a perch if there's room.

Learning the pecking order and how to cope with the older chickens is very stressful but necessary. The panic room provides safety as well as a place where the chicks can relax without being on the alert for a bully sneaking up.

My chicks begin at age two weeks in the run during the daytime. By age five weeks, I open the small pop holes in the panic room so they can begin to explore the run and interact with the older ones. My chicks use the panic room until they're around three months old, and by then they're pretty comfortable with their places in the flock.

At roosting time, I encouraged the chicks to roost together at the far end of the perch, and to provide a measure of security, I slipped an old plastic tub lid over the perch, creating a partition so they don't get pecked.

This has worked out extremely well for my youngsters. Give the panic room a try, and you'll see a huge difference.

 

[themenagerie]

I did the same thing with mine. I moved them out to the coop at six weeks in a wire dog kennel inside the run, which I moved into the coop at night. At eight weeks I did away with the outdoor cage, but made a safe area inside the coop that the young ones could fit into if they felt threatened, but the older ones couldn't. The chicks could go outside if they wished, but stayed mostly inside the coop for the next few weeks. My flock is mostly 6 month old pullets, a couple same age roo's and two 2 year old hens. I would say there was probably about two weeks of ugliness from the older ones and screaming drama from the peeps before things settled down. They're 12 weeks old now and move around with the flock like they've always been there. Every now and then one of the older ones gives them a good peck, but things are harmonious for the most part. One of the two year old hens has sort of adopted them, she stayed with them those first weeks when they were hiding out inside the coop and they sleep huddled up next to her on one of the lower perches.

 

[azygous]

Amazingly, my two youngest Brahmas also "adopted" my four youngest right after I moved them into the coop at six weeks old. Since they were lowest in the pecking order, I encouraged the four chicks to roost with them, utilizing them as "bookends" to keep them from falling off the end of the perch on one end, and as a buffer so the chick at that end wouldn't be pecked.

This "adoption" conveniently lasted until the chicks were three months old, and then the two Brahmas began to peck the youngsters at roosting time. That's when I created the partitions, also making one to protect the two Brahmas and their former brooder mate from the higher-ups which peck THEM unmercifully at roosting time.

I'm all for intervention that helps smooth out the viciousness of Chicken World without interfering too much in the natural order of things.

 

[Tumbleweed Farm]

I put 3 and 5 weeks with my flock with plenty of hiding places, all has gone well, no one bothers them, lucky me!

 

[JakRat]

We put them in tonight! My DH made this awesome wall o chicken wire to keep them separate. My head Barred Rock is really upset by it for some reason. She wont shut up! Our banty rooster is trying to keep her in line... sigh... the life of a chicken. I will take pics tomorrow and post them.

 

[wbruder17]

My newest additions to the flock spend a lot of time in the coop during the day. My other hens don't pick on them too much, but they still like to hang in the coop sometimes. Im sure they're fine. If there's no blood, they're eating/drinking etc... then that's where they want to be. I think its fine. Let them do what they want, as long as they're safe.

 

[JakRat]

THERE IS HOPE!!!


OMG! Today my awesome husband made a separate run for the little ones in our coop. Their main run is down stairs and their roost is upstairs. We trained them to go up at night. ANYWAY so the little partition we made up stairs for the babies is at the end of our coop under the heat lamp. They have their food and water and are running around in the hay.I have gone out a couple of times to check on them tonight and each time our Porcelain d'uccle rooster was sitting there watching them from the other side of the chicken wire. Our evil barred rocks where making so much noise until he made his "SHUT UP YALL" sound and they finally stopped. The other day when I put them in the coop to see how everyone would be, he pecked them a bit but nothing to sever... I think it was just because they were running around like crazy trying to get away from the barreds. Well I just now went out there and saw him on there side of the chicken wire... my heart sank I was like OH NO... but instead of finding my babies hurt, I found them snuggling with him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He is keeping them warm and is letting them pretty much do whatever they want... so wonderful

He seems to have put them in their place enough for now and they are all sleeping... I really did try not to cry

I am going to wake up early tomorrow to make sure that he was able to hop back over the wire ( no worries about him getting hurt, we made sure that the sharp points are covered) or he may just be cool with eating their food and drinking their water.

The real test now will be whether he can keep the other girls in line to not hurt them.

Has this ever happened to anyone before? If the rooster accepts them do the rest of them accept them?

 

[JodyJo]

not too young, I added some 7 week olds to a grown flock...they struggled at first, but they had plenty to eat, I would feed them scraps separately away from the others, they had plenty of chicken feed and water, and did stay away from the older ones for weeks...now they all eat together, and even share the roosts with my 3 EE pullets...they are now almost 30 weeks, and the older ones are 40 weeks.

Now we just have the usual pecking order stuff, I have a RSL that is quite near the top, she delivers pecks to almost all the others.

Congrats on the additional run...glad to see the rooster took them in...you will always get the pecking and running away, but in order to have a complete flock, you have to allow some of that, as long as nobody is getting bloodied up.

Good luck!