UPDATED ~ intergrating Silkies with BIG birds??? (pic heavy)

[m2wandc]

I have two 6+ week old (basically fully feathered, spend their days outside, nights inside but no heat lamp (house is heated to 70-75)

and two 3+ week old silkies that are MUCH smaller and always will be.

I didn't like them at first and they are still very skittish when I handle them (daily many times a day since they were a day or so old) They are growing on me...BUT here is my question/problem/concern/delema

Is it possible to get these four birds together, if so, please give detailed instructions on what you suggest (regardless of other's suggestions...I'd like to hear everyone's thougths)

Or should I rehome the silkies now? If I find a home for ONE is it possible to get the left behind ONE in with the other two BIG chicks?

Or should I rehome them together? I sort of like 1 of the silkies more then the other, but feel like they have bonded and don't want to take their friend away???

******

Advice at giving the best chance to all four birds would be great!!!

Thanks!

 

[PurpleChicken]

This can be done if the standards are not agressive.

The best thing to do is let them all free range together or put
them in the same run. The silkies at 3 weeks are still very young.
Wait another few weeks and start integrating them. Put one
standard in with both silkies so the standards can't beat up on
them.

I've have many silkies and standards that have lived together fine.

Best of luck.

 

[TXmom]

My Silkies get along great with all my big birds no problem, but they've been together since they were very young. I don't know your exact set up, but can you put the silkies near the bigger birds with only chicken wire (or similar) separating them? They need to see and hear each other so they can get used to each other. IF they seem to get along through the wire, then try putting them together at night when they're going to sleep. When they wake up together in the morning, see how they're doing, and take the Silkies out if there's any violence.

I'm no expert...but that's what I would do in that situation.

 

[m2wandc]

Here are some pictures for visual aides

This is the play yard (a fenced area my kids play in on occasion, but not as often as they should because we spend a lot of time involved in various activities) The chickens will EVENTUALLY free range in this fenced area (it's about 1000 square feet) because if they aren't in that area, the dogs will eat them up

Within this fenced area is their coop/run

My two older (3 weeks older then the silkies, but MUCH bigger!, this is an old pic of them, they are bigger and fully feathered now) chicks are very friendly with people and each other, but those two grew up with each other and they are buddies, so I'm not sure how they will be with other chickens?

Here are the two bigger girls

and here is a recent pic of the silkies (they are a little over 3 weeks now) As you can see, they are shy and skittish when I try to hold them...right now they are trying to run behind the feeder to hide from me. (I'm not that bad...really...I'm a very loving chicken momma! LOL)

 

[PurpleChicken]

Those chickens are going to live like royalty. Nice setup.

With that much room you should have no problems integrating.

 

[Goose and Fig]

Yes- looks like you have plenty of room. I think they'd be fine together- just watch for a while and make sure the smaller ones aren't hiding in a corner or anything. That's a sure sign of harassment.

 

[GAchick]

Also, make sure the smaller chicks have a 'safe place' that only they can get into to escape any excessive bullying/pecking. I have a small cage set up inside my run that my 3 week olds can get into, but the 5 week old girls cannot get into. (Width of spacing on the wire of the cage). I have food inside the cage, and the waterer is abutting the cage, so the wee ones can eat and drink without being harassed. They often take advantage of the easy pickins inside the small cage. They don't have to fight for space at the big feeder.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Here's another thread about flock integration that might help. Notice that there is a link to cmom's home page that has more info.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=187656

The way I understand it, you really don't use that huge area for the chickens right now. I think they are too young and vulnerable to way to many predators to try it unsupervised right now anyway. Once they grow up, it will be great.

As far as the young silkies not liking you, keep working with them. It's just a matter of time. Your patience will be rewarded.

You can try letting them all out in that huge open area while you supervise for short spells, but I think the two different age groups will likely ignore each other and the pairs will just hang together. You really won't know if they will get along in the confined run or not. I probably would try it first to see what happens. They may combine OK but I don't think it will be a final resolution.

I don't know what your weather is like. If it is warm enough, I'd probably let them all in the run together during the day for a short time just to see what happens. Observe and be prepared to intervene. There will most likely be some pecking order issues but it may not be very serious. If it is serious, try it next time with just one of the older birds, the least aggressive on if you can tell which one that is. Then, if those three get along, you can try a later session with just the other bird. I would provide separate food and water facilities during this so the older birds may be a little less territorial and protective of their perogatives. If you can, I'd give strong consideration to ddawn's water hose solution. She squirts the aggressor when they first attack. She claims it works for her and I believe her. If you do try it, I'd make sure the silkies did not get wet or immediately take them in to dry. They are too young to be outside when they are wet.

I think it would be a big bonus to house them next to each other, separated by wire, for about a week before you try any of this.

The silkies will never be big enough that they can defend themselves against the older, but once they reach maturity, they may actually become dominant. It just depends on personality. The reason I mention this is that I don't think you gain a lot by letting the silkies reach full growth. I'd go ahead and start the integration as soon as the silkies can be outside.

I don't think I would separate the two pairs. I think there is a pretty good chance they will hang as pairs all their life, even if they successfully integrate.

You asked for my opinion. Here it is. Good luck with it.

 

[m2wandc]

This weekend the hubby is building a temp divider for the coop...but since the coop only has one door, it has to be temp...and the big girls will have the main run of it and I'll put the silkies in the temp area of the run/coop for a few hours while we are out there playing with the kids...I'll start that as soon as this chilly weather passes (should be next week)

Hmmm I wonder if I could just buy or borrow a 'cage' of some sort from the feedstore and use that as a temp coop within the coop for the silkies??? Probably...I'll have to look into that so I don't have to always be giving my hubby the "honey do list" every weekend...LOL

You guys are giving me hope and allowing me to enjoy the silkies a little more...I think my heart keeps them at a distance because I fear I'll have to rehome them. But I have some hope here...

1) you guys are giving me hope

and

2) there are a couple of people I know that MIGHT give them a home if it doesn't work out for me...but I'm going to give it my best shot...

...my hubby and I are pretty firm believers in giving pets a home for life and a good home...so the thought of rehoming a potiental rooster or these silkies really does pull on our beliefs.

I have no-climb fencing wire on the outside fence, but I think the silkies are still too small to get thru it and the dogs are waiting with mouths open wide on the other side of the fence...so I think all of the 'intergration' has to happen within the coop/run instead.

 

[m2wandc]

I was going to wait until they were full grown, but I think you're right, they need to start sooner...

as of now, I've just held the silkies in my hand and shown them like show and tell to the big chicks with coop wire between us...so they have seen each other...

their brooders are next to each other so they hear each other and have for a long time...but they can't see each other because of the brooder walls (rubber maid containers)