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

[Mama Bay]

They are probably just molting. Feathers have a lot of protein so they will eat them at molt.

Oh ok what a relief!
Thanks!!!

 

[karenerwin]

Would they be molting that young?

 

[ronott1]

Would they be molting that young?

Some breeds go through a couple of molts before the adult feathers are in. They do not always look ugly and feather out nearly as fast as they lose the feathers. One sign of this is when you see chicks running around with feathers in their mouth.

Another is a bunch of feathers in the brooder.

 

[CowboysAngel]

This is just my personal thought, but I feel 7 or 8 weeks old is too young to integrate with adults. I feel that is asking for injury or even death if the adults don't take a liking to the little ones. Is there a way to separate them with a fence or do you have another way of housing them next to the adults until they grow a little bigger and the adults have time to get adjusted by seeing them daily with out touching them? Or maybe construct and area that only the small ones can get under or around s they have a safe area to hide if they feel threatened.  

I guess I've just been lucky, I have 19 that I started letting out last week, I free range though...the lil one's stay near their hutch, the 11 week old's go a lil farther into my yard and my adults go out the farthest..they cross paths during the day, usually in a lap towards me when the adults want to see what I'm giving the lils...there's an occasional peck to somebody who's in the way but the lil ones know their place and move...my 11 week olds moved themselves into the big coop on their own at 7 weeks old, I went to do my nightly count and they had all bedded down with the big girls. I even let my other banties out now, they are fostering my ehals, I put 10 banty babies in with them at 4 weeks old, the adults thought I put a lion in their and the babies thought I threw them in a lions den, for the first week they avoided each other, now they are being parents (they are to 4) the hen has even stopped laying because she is brooding babies...I have one pair in a run with their two babies though...she doesn't play well with others, and he can't get along with either rooster... But my EE roo and my calico roo just ignore each other...I ran out of medicated feed last week, they get oats, cracked corn, red wheat, kitchen scraps, bugs they find and grass and weeds...6 of my lils got themselves stuck in the turkey run, and they've been keeping her company while she sits her eggs...eating her poultry crumble... I suppose they all get along so well because they aren't trapped in the same space together...I have 4 3/4 acres...I lost 11 babies to a cat that got in their run, and I lost 1-11 week old that got too close to the dogs run (he's on a skyline).

 

[Junibutt]

I guess I've just been lucky, I have 19 that I started letting out last week, I free range though...the lil one's stay near their hutch, the 11 week old's go a lil farther into my yard and my adults go out the farthest..they cross paths during the day, usually in a lap towards me when the adults want to see what I'm giving the lils...there's an occasional peck to somebody who's in the way but the lil ones know their place and move...my 11 week olds moved themselves into the big coop on their own at 7 weeks old, I went to do my nightly count and they had all bedded down with the big girls. I even let my other banties out now, they are fostering my ehals, I put 10 banty babies in with them at 4 weeks old, the adults thought I put a lion in their and the babies thought I threw them in a lions den, for the first week they avoided each other, now they are being parents (they are to 4) the hen has even stopped laying because she is brooding babies...I have one pair in a run with their two babies though...she doesn't play well with others, and he can't get along with either rooster... But my EE roo and my calico roo just ignore each other...I ran out of medicated feed last week, they get oats, cracked corn, red wheat, kitchen scraps, bugs they find and grass and weeds...6 of my lils got themselves stuck in the turkey run, and they've been keeping her company while she sits her eggs...eating her poultry crumble... I suppose they all get along so well because they aren't trapped in the same space together...I have 4 3/4 acres...I lost 11 babies to a cat that got in their run, and I lost 1-11 week old that got too close to the dogs run (he's on a skyline).

I agree with @chicken pickin 7-8 weeks is too young to integrate with adult flock unless they have had exposure to the younger ones over an extended period of time (I would say at least 10 days). However, as you mentioned, free range environment is a very good start point for integration and usually little ones start hanging inside the big people coop. Chased out for the first few days but then finally accepted.

 

[SimplyLogan]

Quote: We have not had any problems integrating but we put them with the other starting a few hours at a time and watch them. Then we put them up and do it again the next day for a little longer. after about a week and my husband not having to scold the older chickens we put them in for the day and watch from a distance. Kind of tedious, but an easy transition.

 

[myfivegirls]

Quote:
I was just talking to someone last night about this same thing. It all depends on your set-up, etc - what age to integrate. When I first integrated new chicks into my adult flock (2010), I divided the coop & run in half, but they could see each other, but not touch. Once they were 3/4 the size of the adult hens, I then started to let them co-mingle. There was pecking and chasing, but the new pullets were big enough to withstand it - plus they greatly outnumbered the adult hens. In 2011 when I raised out pullet chicks & Freedom Ranger meat chickens (together) to 8 weeks or so, then began introducing them to each other, with a fence in between. After a week or more of this, then I started letting the adults and little ones co-mingle. There was lots of pecking, chasing, especially from one of the hens who was "lower ranks" & had been picked on by the other hens. So, I guess she was taking out her frustration on the young chicks. But, after awhile, everyone was accepted & "peace returned to the flock".
In 2012, I had my first broody hen, and the difference with how the flock accepted those chicks was incredible. The hen (my"famous" Daisy) protected the chicks and within a few days old, they were co-mingling with the adults. Later in the year she went broody again, as well as, another hen, Alix.
In 2013, I had many hens go broody, of whom raised the majority of my flock's chicks, along with a few from TSC. Here is one group from 2013 that spent the majority of their "growing up" life with the flock, who were always curious but didn't dare get too close to them.

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2014 - all of my chicks were raised by broody hens, even the Cornish meaties & incubator chicks. They did very well, and it seemed like the adults were very accepting, almost "ignored" all the young'ins - partially because the hens would beat them up if they did, but even the more laid back hens' chicks were quickly accepted into the flock with hardly any pecking/chasing. Don't get me wrong, the adults still would peck at them if they go too close to their feed or later on, chose to roost in the coop in someone's favorite spot. But, the transition was pretty uneventful, especially compared to previous years. Here's a few of the chicks sharing food scraps with two of the Red Stars, and they're obviously not 8 weeks old yet.

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This year, the first 3 hatches were all from incubators and raised indoors until it warmed up enough to put them outside. By that time, one hen had gone broody and was raising her chicks along with all the adult flock. I kept the older chicks (4-9 wks old) in a separate pen for a few days, then started letting the young stock out. The adults seemed most interested in trying to find a way to get to their food, but otherwise let them alone. Within a few days, the young and adults were digging in the compost pile and eating grass in the paddocks together. I have not seen the typical pecking, chasing that goes on - it's like everyone knows their rightful place and order - therefore all is well. It might also have to do with the majority of the Catskill Homesteader hens and roosters have been raised by a broody hen, been around a broody hen with chicks or has been broody herself. I've even witnessed some of the roosters clucking and calling to let the hens and chicks know "there's a special treat over here". Or sometimes, the rooster will stand guard by the hen and chicks while they eat, with his head held high and on the alert. Other times, he will share his food with one of the chicks, even the Cornish that are obviously not his offspring!

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What's also interesting to observe is how this year's 3 oldest batches of chicks (one of which was the Easter Hatch-a-Long) who weren't raised by broody hens very quickly learned to forage, and many have been busy excavating the compost pile in search for "goodies".
As you can tell, I love watching the flock dynamics, and as they are now a multi-generational breeding project, I'm seeing many qualities that I don't remember seeing when I had all-hen flocks, ordered from a hatchery and brooded by humans.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I integrate mine in with the main flock at 8 weeks old. I've done it several times and have a theory on it. I think that if babies have been raised in worth the flock in the past by a broody, they're more excepting of the new ones. They give them a peck here and there when they step out of line. I also have a couple bantams in worth everyone too so it's not strange to them to have smaller birds around. I have 10 young ones that will be moving out to the main coop in a couple weeks. They will be added in at night with everyone on the roosts.

 

[NikkiCole5]

I wish I had success like y'all, my hens are vicious to newcomers, they actually killed one... they are cannibalistic as well. I really hate it because I don't want to lose any new chicks

 

[CowboysAngel]

I wish I had success like y'all, my hens are vicious to newcomers, they actually killed one... they are cannibalistic as well. I really hate it because I don't want to lose any new chicks

I won't have a mean animal, I'm thinking of rehoming two of my banties, the two I keep penned up, I can hardly change their water without getting charged, but they have 2 babies, and I'm trying to give them the benefit of,the doubt since the cat (now deceased) traumatized them by eating 11 of their kids!