When to combine chicks with adult hens

[aart]

We’ve been trying to get him but he so fast and seems to know what’s coming.

Grab him off the roost at night and put him in a crate,
they are much easier to 'catch' after dark on the roost.

 

[OneLuckeyWife]

Grab him off the roost at night and put him in a crate,
they are much easier to 'catch' after dark on the roost.

Our chickens sleep on the back porch. They never use their coop. So he hears the door open.

 

[junkman56]

I had to put some blu kote on the one barred rock chick today, she was my brave one out them all, she got cornered and one of the hens got at her, luckily I was pretty close by,
I'm sure that will set things back

 

[mklogan]

I hope they are ok! We have 5-6 week old Plymouth Barred Rocks and two older PBR hens. We're putting them outside during the day in the run while the hens free range. The hens are making all kinds of sounds I've never heard before (but which I take to mean "how dare you bring others into my coop!" and "who do these little chicks think they are?!").

Next week we hope to integrate everyone but the alpha hen is was fairly aggressive toward the alpha chick, so we'll see. Also my first time with a) chicks and b) integrating a flock. It'll be interesting! Appreciate this thread.

 

[blackdog043]

@junkman56 How's your barred rock doing, were you in the run with them?
Do your hens spot the chicks and just attack them, do you know if it is the same hen?
Do you have any updated pics of your run with the stuff added as distractions and hiding places?
Can you add some more wood chips and stuff for the big girls to dig in, in the run(make a pile), then put the chicks in. This might distract the big girls more, for a while.
Something will work, hopefully sooner than later, to get them integrated.

 

[junkman56]

@junkman56 How's your barred rock doing, were you in the run with them?
Do your hens spot the chicks and just attack them, do you know if it is the same hen?
Do you have any updated pics of your run with the stuff added as distractions and hiding places?
Can you add some more wood chips and stuff for the big girls to dig in, in the run(make a pile), then put the chicks in. This might distract the big girls more, for a while.
Something will work, hopefully sooner than later, to get them integrated.

The barred rock is doing fine, we were not in the run but close by, the hens don't seem to spot the chicks and go right after them, and I don't know which hen is attacking, they all look the same to me, but one. I will try and put some grass clippings , pine shavings in the run for the hens. it wont be easy to get all the chicks over to the hens side.

here a few pictures

this one is a screen door leaning against the fence between the two runs ( chicks side/ hens side) so the chicks can go behind it to get away

this one is a bale of hat out in the run

this picture has the pallet up on logs for them to get under if need be

this one has a crate up on stands to get under and a block out if front of a panic door.
the chicks side of the run is only 4 ft. wide but it is 50 ft. long

 

[aart]

That looks pretty great!
Couple suggestions.
Turn that concrete block on its side, so chicks can scoot thru the holes.
Spread the 3 stumps apart a bit, so chicks can go between them.
Maybe remove the boards at bottom of divider fence, where they don't contain a 'tiny doors', would be a great place to spread scratch grains on both sides so bigs and littles get used to eating near each other, keep in mind tho that the big birds can probably reach a good 6" thru the fence holes.
Can you keep the bigs in the coop and let the littles explore the big run on their own?

 

[debid]

I think so. My fear is him attacking our daughter, she’s the same height as our Light Brahmas. We’ve been trying to get him but he so fast and seems to know what’s coming.

Our chickens sleep on the back porch. They never use their coop. So he hears the door open.

Can you not make the porch dark and just use a small flashlight to navigate? Chickens don't see well in the dark and are basically "sitting ducks". So, hearing the door does him no good if he can't see an escape route. Personally, I'd grab the hens and put them in the coop while I was at it. Sleeping on the porch has to be resulting in a dirty porch for you as well as the risk of a predator grabbing them at night.

 

[junkman56]

That looks pretty great!
Couple suggestions.
Turn that concrete block on its side, so chicks can scoot thru the holes.
Spread the 3 stumps apart a bit, so chicks can go between them.
Maybe remove the boards at bottom of divider fence, where they don't contain a 'tiny doors', would be a great place to spread scratch grains on both sides so bigs and littles get used to eating near each other, keep in mind tho that the big birds can probably reach a good 6" thru the fence holes.
Can you keep the bigs in the coop and let the littles explore the big run on their own?

I will remove some of the boards, and I will put the big girls in the original run and close it up, I been putting scratch and their feed along the fence line, but then again the boards are there and when pecking at the ground they cannot see each other. I will try all this later today .
Thanks Jack

 

[junkman56]

I put the big girls in the coop/run and closed the door so they couldn't get out, then I through scratch out in the large run and had to pick up the chicks and place them in the run, they explored and took a dust bath, I guess I had them out there for a couple hours, then I looked over and most of them were back on the chicks side of the fence, four were still in the big girls side, I let the hens out and stood there watching and close by, the four chicks went back to their side. hopefully they will venture back over on their own. if not I guess time will have to take its coarse.