What should I do??

[lovemyjjbs]

I have a mixed age flock. My cinnamon queens, SLW and BR are 6wks old, my SF and BO are 5wks old and my Silkies are 4wks old. Since I have put everyone outside and have recently taken the silkies out of their brooder, the older chicks are picking on the silkies. What should I do? I'm afraid that if I keep separating them that it'll only make it worse. At night I put the silkies back in their brooder just because I cant watch them. During the day I spend a lot of time outside watching them and my biggest bullies seem to be the SLW. When I see them chasing the silkies I take them and put them in the brooder by themselves for a couple of hours. Im not sure if I'm doing the right thing. Any suggestions??

Edited to add that I do have 3 separate food dishes and 3 water dishes in the run area

 

[FeatheredFriends&Horses2]

I have a mixed age flock. My cinnamon queens, SLW and BR are 6wks old, my SF and BO are 5wks old and my Silkies are 4wks old. Since I have put everyone outside and have recently taken the silkies out of their brooder, the older chicks are picking on the silkies. What should I do? I'm afraid that if I keep separating them that it'll only make it worse. At night I put the silkies back in their brooder just because I cant watch them. During the day I spend a lot of time outside watching them and my biggest bullies seem to be the SLW. When I see them chasing the silkies I take them and put them in the brooder by themselves for a couple of hours. Im not sure if I'm doing the right thing. Any suggestions??

Edited to add that I do have 3 separate food dishes and 3 water dishes in the run area

So long as no one is bleeding or it's apparent someone is injured, leave them be. I know it's hard to watch, but it is best to only intervene when it is absolutely necessary and otherwise let them work out the pecking order. Hope this helps!

 

[azygous]

That's the entire flock? No adult chickens? If not, it makes things simpler.

Keep them together and increase the space. Your chicks no longer need heat during the day so they don't need a brooder. Let them have the run of the entire pen and the coop. Add shelves and perches at varying heights for the younger ones to escape to. Different feeding stations is a must, as you've figured out.

At night, unless you have very cold temps, which I can't picture in Texas at this time of year, they probably don't need heat when they sleep. They will huddle and be fine.

It's normal behavior, especially for BRs to be aggressive. Silkies will continue to have a problem in a mixed flock especially with aggressive breeds such as BRs. You may need to create a sub flock for the Silkies with their own run and coop section.

When adding to a flock, breed temperament needs to be considered. Some breeds such as Silkies and other bantams do not fair well with standard more aggressive breeds.

 

[lovemyjjbs]

So long as no one is bleeding or it's apparent someone is injured, leave them be. I know it's hard to watch, but it is best to only intervene when it is absolutely necessary and otherwise let them work out the pecking order. Hope this helps!

Thank you for your advice. It is very hard on me not to intervene lol. They are all my babies and I hate to see any bullying but it makes sense to let them kinda figure it out.

 

[lovemyjjbs]

That's the entire flock? No adult chickens? If not, it makes things simpler.

Keep them together and increase the space. Your chicks no longer need heat during the day so they don't need a brooder. Let them have the run of the entire pen and the coop. Add shelves and perches at varying heights for the younger ones to escape to. Different feeding stations is a must, as you've figured out.

At night, unless you have very cold temps, which I can't picture in Texas at this time of year, they probably don't need heat when they sleep. They will huddle and be fine.

It's normal behavior, especially for BRs to be aggressive. Silkies will continue to have a problem in a mixed flock especially with aggressive breeds such as BRs. You may need to create a sub flock for the Silkies with their own run and coop section.

When adding to a flock, breed temperament needs to be considered. Some breeds such as Silkies and other bantams do not fair well with standard more aggressive breeds.

I have 6 older laying hens that are almost close to 3yrs old. They are free range and have their own housing area at night that they are very adamant in being in. It is ridiculously small for the 6 mature hens but every time I have tried to move them into the big coop, they freak out. So I kinda gave up and let them just have the small enclosure at night since they are so attached to it. I believe both of my SLW that were supposed to be pullets are actually cockrells so I may have to regome them since I specifically bought a BO rooster for my flock. At night i don't turn on any heat lamps since they are feathered, i just keep the silkies in the brooder away from the others because I guess I'm just being a mama hen and want to protect them. I will stop doing that and just let them get accustomed. This is what our coop and run look like