Transition Tips?

[AmyJane725]

Hey guys,

My babies are quickly outgrowing their brooder. They'll be moving to an intermediary pen until they're ready to go out to the coop/until the coop is ready for them.

My question is this: I have heard that chickens are very change averse, so I imagine that this transition will be very stressful for them. How can I make it as pleasant as possible?

I have nightmares of moving them out there and coming out the next morning and they've all died from stress overload. Please help.

P.S. Their feeder, waterers, substrate (pine chips) and brooder plate will remain consistent. I plan to give them a new/larger perch or two, as well as the smaller one they have currently.

 

[21hens-incharge]

How long until the coop is ready?
How old are the chicks?
How many in the group?


No they certainly do not like change.

Moving them out to the coop should not cause them to die of stress. It will be ok.

 

[AmyJane725]

How long until the coop is ready?
How old are the chicks?
How many in the group?


No they certainly do not like change.

Moving them out to the coop should not cause them to die of stress. It will be ok.

Eh, not entirely sure on the coop. I'm finishing up painting and installing some hardware, but my helper is flaky so I'm kind of limited. Should be by the end of this month hopefully.

10 of the chicks are 17 days old and 5 are 10 days old.

Thank you for the reassurance.

 

[mixedbreeds]

Make sure you give them day and night while you have control over it. Once they go into the coop and all of a sudden it gets dark they might freak out. I have had groups that didn’t care and others that just went bonkers when it started to get dark.

 

[AmyJane725]

Make sure you give them day and night while you have control over it. Once they go into the coop and all of a sudden it gets dark they might freak out. I have had groups that didn’t care and others that just went bonkers when it started to get dark.

Thanks for the tip.
Mine are used to having day and night because they have a brooder plate instead of a heat lamp, so I think they'll be fine with the night time. They put themselves neatly to bed every night when it gets dark. It's the cutest thing ever.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I guess I'm a meanie. I don't worry about them getting upset, if I need to move them I move them. Never had an animal die or get sick just because I moved them or changed feed or whatnot.

 

[t3wine]

I’m thinking that they are not quite as fragile as you may think! I do provide mine with a tub complete with clean shavings to sleep in until the transition to a perch? I have a large lidded tub with one end cut out and they all huddle there at night or if they get scared. They will also enjoy sitting on a low perch if you can provide that. Good luck!

 

[Fishkeeper]

If chickens died of stress overload from being moved to a new place, no one could ever keep them. Wild ones would also have gone extinct a long time ago from scaring themselves by finding new areas.
To die of stress, chickens either have to be subjected to a massive amount of stress (i.e. a predator chasing them around, and even that only does it occasionally, in younger birds), or highly stressed for long enough to weaken their immune system and let a disease take hold.
Putting them outside won't kill them. They'll just be worried for a little while, then they'll settle in.

 

[AmyJane725]

If chickens died of stress overload from being moved to a new place, no one could ever keep them. Wild ones would also have gone extinct a long time ago from scaring themselves by finding new areas.
To die of stress, chickens either have to be subjected to a massive amount of stress (i.e. a predator chasing them around, and even that only does it occasionally, in younger birds), or highly stressed for long enough to weaken their immune system and let a disease take hold.
Putting them outside won't kill them. They'll just be worried for a little while, then they'll settle in.

Yes, that's definitely true. If they died from moving nobody could keep them. I guess I'm just overly worried after my one chick died that I'm just paranoid now. It was probably just a weak chick with some internal birth defect, but I don't know for sure and I don't want any more of them to die. You just hear such crazy things. I read an article about trying to make runs more entertaining and a lady put a stump into her chickens' run and they refused to leave the coop for two days until she gave up and took it out. If adding one new thing to an existing enclosure is enough to make them shut-ins I was just worried what moving them to an entirely new room/setup would do.

 

[Fishkeeper]

That's not the norm. Chickens are a little cautious about new things, but will go and inspect them for food. Just look at photos of people adding big heaps of leaves or weeds to the run- the chickens love it! They just gotta get a good look at the thing first.
Probably the lady had a snake or something hiding in the stump that was scaring them, or it was a coincidence.