we separated chicks so they would have space but they freaked out!

[littlehillchickens]

we just tried separating our chicks into different tanks so they could have more space, and they started freaking out, so we put them back together, but they are very cramped! is the freakout temporary or is it just too late to separate them (they're about 3 weeks old)? thanks in advance!

 

[D'Angelo N Va.]

Welcome first of all....and chickens like anything else likes to be together. I am sure it will only be temporarily though. how many are you putting together?? that might make a big difference.

 

[HeatherLynn]

Not sure how many you are doing but I made sure when I separated mine that they could still hear each other. They fussed a bit the first day or so.

 

[teach1rusl]

You'll find that chickens don't adapt easily to change...that won't change once they're grown either...lol. Go ahead and separate them; they'll most likely be back to normal within a few days.

 

[Manda0227]

I had to seperate mine into two as well. They are in the same room, and you could hear them peeping to each other. It stopped after a couple days or so! Everyone is doing well! Couple more weeks, and then they'll be back together again, and I'll have to see how well they go back together. I have a few methods Im going to try to reduce the pecking, and all that!

 

[felidaet]

I had to separate mine too because some were much larger than others. They were right beside each other for a couple of weeks. I moved the bigger ones to the coop about a weeks ago. The smaller ones will be in the brooder for about one more week.

Today was sunny and warm. IO wanted to let all of the chicks get some outside time today. I let the older ones go into the run. Then I put the smaller ones in the run. Each of the groups kept together and away from the other group for only a few minutes. Then they all mixed together like they were best friends. There was no pecking or bullying. They got along great. I was really tempted to leave the smaller ones in the coop with the bigger ones but they don't have as many feathers and so I decided that they need one more week in the brooder.

Note - The "big" ones are about 5 - 6 weeks old. The "small" ones are about 4 weeks old. Of course we have one odd ball that is going to complicate moving all of the small ones to the coop. We have one chick that is about 6 weeks old but is about the size of a 2 week old and has the feathering of a 3 week old. This one hangs out under the heat lamp most of the time. If it does not show any signs of growing and additional feathering by next weekend I may have a tough decision to make. I can't keep the brooder going for ever for one chick.