The 6th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-a-long!

[ronott1]

So less about age and more about size? I have such a wide range of sizes.... Do you suggest a staggered integration?

I let them see each other through the fence wire first for a while. You can integrate them in pairs or more but it is not a good idea to integrate singly. It helps for the new ones to have a buddy or two for protection.

 

[Mama Bay]

I let them see each other through the fence wire first for a while. You can integrate them in pairs or more but it is not a good idea to integrate singly. It helps for the new ones to have a buddy or two for protection.

I have 21 chicks that will be 8 and 9 weeks old next weekend some are huge and then 3 bantams and 1 that hatched from a regular sized egg but is not much bigger than the bantams and everything in between. I can wait a few weeks and start with the largest maybe? Right now they are about 1/2 the size of the full grown chickens maybe a little more...

 

[Chrysolinsbirds]

So the HAL chicks will be 8 weeks next weekend!!! I am planning to put them in with the big ones next weekend. I have 8 adults (7 hens, 1 roo) and I have 21 chicks to put in. Any suggestions for best integration method?

Start them in a completely enclosed smaller pen either inside the run/coop or adjacent to the run/coop so they can see each other and hear each other for awhile( at least a few days) to get used to being with them without the danger of introduction of the pecking order.

 

[Chrysolinsbirds]

I have 21 chicks that will be 8 and 9 weeks old next weekend some are huge and then 3 bantams and 1 that hatched from a regular sized egg but is not much bigger than the bantams and everything in between. I can wait a few weeks and start with the largest maybe? Right now they are about 1/2 the size of the full grown chickens maybe a little more...

The larger the group of chicks your intergrating the better off the individual chicks will fair because they don't get singled out to be picked on =)

 

[capper2013]

ok chickeny peeps, I have a quezzie.
I have a chicken from the hatch-a-long, born the day after easter sunday. so she is merely a few weeks old; I have a bator full of embden eggs that are due out on the 29th or thereabouts. will the chicken's maternal instincts have kicked in by then and is she likely to look after the goose chicks? I know that one cannot account for individual difference and she may hate them just because she does. it is more of a generalised question about when they start becoming protective rather than getting someone to answer for this particular character; can I use her as a guardian and buddy to them or is she far too young?
I would hate to have to house her separately (she is an only child) as I am not planning on developing more chicken eggs for a couple of months, I plan to get another clutch of goose eggs first before the end of the season; I really don't want her to be a loner, and she is getting to the point where I really need to put her out the house because she makes so much mess. I was planning on sticking her out with the geese when they go out, but as lovely and friendly as she is, she makes more mess than a kid with a spray gun in a paint factory.

 

[chickadoodles]

Quote: That is what I do also I put up a board or piece of tin or something the chicks can hide behind or under to get away from the birds if they start acting to rough for them. I give mine a safe place for a week or so and monitor how things go.

 

[Lamancha]

I have 21 chicks that will be 8 and 9 weeks old next weekend some are huge and then 3 bantams and 1 that hatched from a regular sized egg but is not much bigger than the bantams and everything in between. I can wait a few weeks and start with the largest maybe? Right now they are about 1/2 the size of the full grown chickens maybe a little more...

I think that with that ratio of baby's vs adults you should be fine if you have a big enough coop/run. It all comes down to whether the chicks can get away from anyone who is picking on them (which will happen and that's normal). I have a huge group together and there is such a mass confusion of ages that even if one little guy gets singled out he can run into the group and get "lost". Chickens have a very short attention span, and they forget who they were attacking. With that many babies, the adults shouldn't do to much damage. That being said, the adults may not let the little ones into the actual coop, so make sure that have an alternative shelter like a dog house or something.

 

[Mama Bay]

I think that with that ratio of baby's vs adults you should be fine if you have a big enough coop/run. It all comes down to whether the chicks can get away from anyone who is picking on them (which will happen and that's normal). I have a huge group together and there is such a mass confusion of ages that even if one little guy gets singled out he can run into the group and get "lost". Chickens have a very short attention span, and they forget who they were attacking. With that many babies, the adults shouldn't do to much damage. That being said, the adults may not let the little ones into the actual coop, so make sure that have an alternative shelter like a dog house or something.

Oh wow I hadn't thought of the older chickens not letting the littles in... Good to know!! My 8 older chickens are pretty mellow I can't even tell who the Queen B is so I'm really anxious to see how they react to their new coop mates. They are really curious about the chicks and hang out by the Chick Tank pretty often through out the day...

 

[Noncentzter]

Start them in a completely enclosed smaller pen either inside the run/coop or adjacent to the run/coop so they can see each other and hear each other for awhile( at least a few days) to get used to being with them without the danger of introduction of the pecking order.

I have two large dog kennels that I put my young chicks (7-8 weeks old) in, inside the coop. This lets the older birds get used to the new birds and the new birds get used to being inside the coop.

 

[NikkiCole5]

Hey! Everyone is talking about introducing new chicks and I love reading it because I have had my adults kill a newbie. So thank you, I do need some advice though.
I have a hen that is 2 years old,she is the bottom of the pecking order and is always picked on, or "mated" with, my duck tries to mate with her, he is mean though. She is bloody, bald, and smelly on her rear end. I am thinking about adding her to my chicks pen, but I wanted to ask if she has a disease or if she is just being picked on before I add her with the babies, I have put her in there before for an hour, supervised, with no problems, she doesn't torture the small chicks. I just don't want her to be sick and then the babies get sick, the babies are 3 months old, fully feathered and about half her size. I will post the picture under this post, thank you