klbook
Hatching
- Aug 1, 2015
- 5
- 0
- 7
Hello,
I'm new to chickens, I've only had them 5-6 weeks and it's been a nightmare. I'm going to try to stay focused on the latest issue though, which happened yesterday. I have 6 pullets who are maybe 12-14 weeks (I don't know for sure, I'm guessing) and I had 2 who were maybe 8-9 weeks. We have a large outdoor area, about 500sf that they have access to. Their coop is inside the barn/building, with their ramp going into an enclosed goat pen that has a hole in the wall to the outside run. During the day I've been putting all 8 together, first supervised and then unsupervised. The 2 keep themselves separated but we have gone in when all were in goat pen and even once or twice all were in coop. I'm assuming they ran in from an airplane scare, we have a lot of planes overhead. My husband has wanted to combine them at night but I didn't want to until they were 10-12 weeks. Unfortunately the other night while I was gone he put them all away together, then took this picture to tell me they were fine together. The next morning one of the chicks was dead by the feeder. He said she was cold (as if it happened at night, after they we're put to bed,and there was no blood/marks as if she'd been pecked to death. Could she have been killed without these marks or some obvious evidence? Maybe just 1 or 2 hard pecks ? A few weeks ago I found another one dead (she was one of the original "big girls" and seemed to get along with them fine). She also was by the feeder with no evidence of pecking or blood. They're different breeds. At that time I assumed the white one was ill without my knowing it because I thought it would surely be obvious if she was killed by another one. However, with the timing of this being the 2 chicks first time in the coop it seems only possible that it was a bigger one.
Lastly, I have this lone chick now who has no one. She's completely by herself and I feel horrible when I see her alone. How will I ever put her in the coop with them, she won't stand a chance on her own. I found someone selling 8 wk old cream leg bars and I'm thinking about buying 2 to put with her. I'd keep all 3 separate at night until they are older and then put the 3 with the big girls eventually. What are your thoughts on that idea? I need help. I wish I could tell you my horrors of the last 5.5 weeks and how we've gone from 14 to 7. This isn't at all what I was hoping for.
I'm new to chickens, I've only had them 5-6 weeks and it's been a nightmare. I'm going to try to stay focused on the latest issue though, which happened yesterday. I have 6 pullets who are maybe 12-14 weeks (I don't know for sure, I'm guessing) and I had 2 who were maybe 8-9 weeks. We have a large outdoor area, about 500sf that they have access to. Their coop is inside the barn/building, with their ramp going into an enclosed goat pen that has a hole in the wall to the outside run. During the day I've been putting all 8 together, first supervised and then unsupervised. The 2 keep themselves separated but we have gone in when all were in goat pen and even once or twice all were in coop. I'm assuming they ran in from an airplane scare, we have a lot of planes overhead. My husband has wanted to combine them at night but I didn't want to until they were 10-12 weeks. Unfortunately the other night while I was gone he put them all away together, then took this picture to tell me they were fine together. The next morning one of the chicks was dead by the feeder. He said she was cold (as if it happened at night, after they we're put to bed,and there was no blood/marks as if she'd been pecked to death. Could she have been killed without these marks or some obvious evidence? Maybe just 1 or 2 hard pecks ? A few weeks ago I found another one dead (she was one of the original "big girls" and seemed to get along with them fine). She also was by the feeder with no evidence of pecking or blood. They're different breeds. At that time I assumed the white one was ill without my knowing it because I thought it would surely be obvious if she was killed by another one. However, with the timing of this being the 2 chicks first time in the coop it seems only possible that it was a bigger one.
Lastly, I have this lone chick now who has no one. She's completely by herself and I feel horrible when I see her alone. How will I ever put her in the coop with them, she won't stand a chance on her own. I found someone selling 8 wk old cream leg bars and I'm thinking about buying 2 to put with her. I'd keep all 3 separate at night until they are older and then put the 3 with the big girls eventually. What are your thoughts on that idea? I need help. I wish I could tell you my horrors of the last 5.5 weeks and how we've gone from 14 to 7. This isn't at all what I was hoping for.
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