I'm newish to keeping chickens and am having a great time with it. I have three roughly 8 month old hens (a Barred Rock, a Delaware, and an EE). I recently decided to add two more, and picked up a Dominique and a Buff Orpington from the feed store. I'm not sure exactly how old the babies are - they are starting to get feathered wings but are pretty young.
I have a rubbermaid shed that is in the chicken's fenced run area, and I placed a dog crate inside the shed and turned it into a brooder. During the day, the shed doors are open and everyone can see each other. The Delaware and the Barred Rock (who is top hen) ignore the brooder. The EE is obsessed with it, and when I let her in she is nice to the chicks but mostly interested in making a nest. She's been semi-broody and I think she's decided the brooder is the Official Baby Area.
Today I had the babies out of the brooder/shed and pecking around in the dirt for 5-10 minutes. After a while the hens came around, and mostly ignored the little ones. There were a few times when the Delaware or Barred Rock approached the chicks with a certain look in their eyes, and I gave them a firm 'peck' with my fingers (playing the role of mama hen). The hens seemed to absorb the message calmly, and went back to scratching around for bugs.
I just loved seeing all of them out together.
I'm hoping the integration will be a smooth one. The babies will be living in the brooder for a long time of course, but my hope is that by the time they are old enough to move to the big girl coop everyone will be completely used to each other.
Since most people in my life don't care to hear about the minor details of my chicken obsession, I'm sharing here.
Also, I have to say THANK YOU to this board as a whole. I only registered recently, but started reading a year ago as I considered getting chickens. This board has been an invaluable source of information and adorable pictures!
I have a rubbermaid shed that is in the chicken's fenced run area, and I placed a dog crate inside the shed and turned it into a brooder. During the day, the shed doors are open and everyone can see each other. The Delaware and the Barred Rock (who is top hen) ignore the brooder. The EE is obsessed with it, and when I let her in she is nice to the chicks but mostly interested in making a nest. She's been semi-broody and I think she's decided the brooder is the Official Baby Area.
Today I had the babies out of the brooder/shed and pecking around in the dirt for 5-10 minutes. After a while the hens came around, and mostly ignored the little ones. There were a few times when the Delaware or Barred Rock approached the chicks with a certain look in their eyes, and I gave them a firm 'peck' with my fingers (playing the role of mama hen). The hens seemed to absorb the message calmly, and went back to scratching around for bugs.
I just loved seeing all of them out together.
Since most people in my life don't care to hear about the minor details of my chicken obsession, I'm sharing here.
Also, I have to say THANK YOU to this board as a whole. I only registered recently, but started reading a year ago as I considered getting chickens. This board has been an invaluable source of information and adorable pictures!
