what would you do with new chickens???

[PeachygirlGA]

Ok, I've got 5 adult chickens and 5, 8 week old chicks in separate coops. Three of my new chicks turned out to be roosters, so I plan on giving them away. Today a friend of mine who bought 2 chicks for Easter decided it was more work and poop than she wanted to deal with and she wanted to get rid of them. I went and got them and right now they are in a separate cage from the babies. Oh yeah, new chicks are about 3 1/2 months old. After seeing each other through the fence for a while I decided to open it up and see what they would do. Well, 2 of my baby roosters are really picking at one of the new hens. One hen they don't bother at all, just the other one. They went back to separate cages on their own and the one being picked on was able to run away and hide from them. Question is this: Around 8:00 I will have to put them together because the big chickens will be ready to come in to roost for the night. Should I be worried that they will hurt the new one even though she is bigger than them? Should I try to somehow separate them? What to do???

 

[Judy]

Sorry you didn't get an answer but there really isn't a single best answer. Generally you keep the aggressor(s) separate for about a week -- or in this case, maybe until you cull them. How did it work out?

 

[PeachygirlGA]

Thanks for the reply. As of right now they are all in the pen together. After being separated by a small fence for a couple of days they seem to be doing better. I was in the pen with them and stopped the pecking a couple of times and now they don't seem to notice her as much. They still chase her around a bit, but there doesn't seem to be as much or any pecking. I think they are gonna be just fine! Funny how we get so worried about the chickens and how they get along. My husband just shakes his head and says "great, more chicken drama!" lol! So we are good for a while until it's time to mix the young ones in with the older ones. That should be fun, but not until a few more months when they are bigger.