Topic of the Week - Integrating Chicks into an Adult Flock

[lazy gardener]

Excellent idea: the card table. I put a pallet in my run up on a couple of hay bales, and am seeing the same thing. the youngsters LOVE it while the older ones pay very little attention to it. They will get on it occasionally, but the young ones love to hang out on it.

 

[SueT]

I posted last week about integrating a pair of 12 week pullets with a pair of year old hens. This is day 8, and they are all adjusting well. HOWEVER, I have just begun to suspect the youngsters may be eating eggs! The hens said, we told you they were hooligans, but noooo, you wouldn't believe us, you thought your little darlings could do no wrong. I am going to do some more spy work, and have prepared 2 mustard filled eggs, which I learned how to do on a BYC forum...(I actually had to buy eggs to do this, we were out.) We shall see what happens next--will we be eating omelets next week? Or cacciatore?

 

[AllynTal]

I posted last week about integrating a pair of 12 week pullets with a pair of year old hens. This is day 8, and they are all adjusting well. HOWEVER, I have just begun to suspect the youngsters may be eating eggs! ....

It's been my experience that egg eating is caused more by a lack of protein than anything else. How much protein is in the chick feed you're giving them? Maybe try feed with a higher amount of protein in it before you start sabotaging eggs.

 

[SueT]

It's been my experience that egg eating is caused more by a lack of protein than anything else. How much protein is in the chick feed you're giving them?

Well I just got some Purina All Flock labelled 20% but no one is thrilled with it so feed may well be a factor. If I find that I haven't solved this issue, if it even is an issue, I will take it to an egg eating forum.

 

[sunflour]

Have you read the first page of this thread and my first post answering the topic questions? In it I pointed out that a very simple thing like a card table or even a small patio table can solve a lot of the issues of feeding much younger and new chickens. Older chickens, usually being of stouter build than less-than-one-year olds, aren't generally inclined to hop up onto surfaces over three feet high. At least it's holding true in my flock.

I place food on an old camp table placed off to the side in the run, and my three-month olds eat there as well as nap and relax in safety. It really doesn't take up any extra space since the area under the table is still usable. It sure does go a long way toward keeping the peace.

Thanks for pointing this out, I missed it in.... a great idea for those of us with smaller areas to work with.

 

[azygous]

Well I just got some Purina All Flock labelled 20% but no one is thrilled with it so feed may well be a factor. If I find that I haven't solved this issue, if it even is an issue, I will take it to an egg eating forum.

Try fermenting your feed. Go over to Bee's thread on the Feeding and Watering forum to get the details. In short, fermented feed is easy to do and releases all sorts of important nutrients such as natural pro-biotics. It increases the taste factor and chickens adore it. It also eliminates all waste since it's in a moist form and you feed it twice a day instead of leaving it out all day for the chickens to play with.

In the four years I've been feeding FF, the results have been nothing short of stunning.

 

[sumi]

Quote: There are some good tips here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/six-tips-on-breaking-your-egg-eater Good luck!

 

[lazy gardener]

Agreed. I love what FF does for my flock.

 

[sumi]

Quote: I love this idea! Thank you @azygous for sharing, I'm going to implement this with my flock and see what they think of it. The hens are o.k. with the youngsters now, but when it comes to feeding time, they are still chasing them around and very annoyingly, positioning themselves one each at each feeding station

 

[sunflour]

I love this idea! Thank you @azygous for sharing, I'm going to implement this with my flock and see what they think of it. The hens are o.k. with the youngsters now, but when it comes to feeding time, they are still chasing them around and very annoyingly, positioning themselves one each at each feeding station

Me too, it is brilliant. Off subject - but I have always wanted a place to be able to examine my flock closely without having to remove them to the garage or sit on a bucket- I am thinking about adding a "work" station in the run for this purpose and next year it will be a newbie feeding station

. And will let me make sure the "elders" don't frequent the table.