when to introduce young chicks to flock

[Pork Pie]

lazy farmerette here, who can never find her tools, and am chronically broke (kids, need i say more). so i wanted the eziest, most natural method of chickie-introduction. i let a broody set in sept--but was still obsessively worried when a chick hatched in (cool) late sept, but decided to trust mama and you guys (mama only allowed one hatchling).

sooo--my experience: closed off the solid sleeping house and left the rest of the flock in the fenced area with roosts. they were squacky-mad, but got over it by the first night. i put my food dehydrator in it for baby warmth. it was in the 50's. i homemade some starter mix from a recipe in 'backyard chickens' and made sure their water was fresh. they really made mess of the water--so this was challenging. the awesome part was how the baby burrowed into the mom's feather--i couldn't even see her!!! mama kept her warm! then about 23 days old, mama and baby decided to escape. there are cats and pets everywhere-but they were still alive at the end of the day. after the 2nd day, mom had proven she knew what she was doing so i opened the barrier between the coop and laying house. i was a little obsessive--but the 3 roosters and 15 hens had no problems--i mean after the initial squawking! i kept an occasional eye out and fed the rest of the flock a LOT so they didn't get any ideas. i threw branches and firewood around the perimeter of the big yard that they go into during the day, and the sleeper coop, so there were plenty of hidey places. i learned that from youz guyz--and that is good info!

now, all is well, and mama has taken care of baby #1--so come spring, she will be a pro. i feel like a chicken farmer!

With my last hatch, i let mum and her chicks out with the rest of the flock on day 2. They are now 4 weeks old and they are doing just fine. Managing chicks is a lot easier when they have been set by a hen.

CT

 

[QueenRuby]

I will isolate Ruby from the others. Thanks for the suggestion. I will update the flock status next week.

 

[Gerard Dawn]

I've been reading the whole trend and I agree with CT, please do update on your status.

 

[QueenRuby]

It's been a week with the BSL, Ruby, separated from the others. Also had to pull an EE out because she was very aggressive. That was odd because the EE is the bottom bird in the pecking order. Tonight the three pullets went in the hen house by themselves. This is progress. All 8 were in the yard today. They separated into two groups but the aggression was minimal. I will keep the BSL and EE away from the group at night for another week. To be continued.

 

[QueenRuby]

It's been a week with the BSL, Ruby, separated from the others. Also had to pull an EE out because she was very aggressive. That was odd because the EE is the bottom bird in the pecking order. Tonight the three pullets went in the hen house by themselves. This is progress. All 8 were in the yard today. They separated into two groups but the aggression was minimal. I will keep the BSL and EE away from the group at night for another week. To be continued.

Last night after dark I placed all the chickens in the coop and shut the door. This morning they came out and starting eating with little aggressive pecking. I kept them locked in the pen all day and all was fine. I did place extra food and water dishes inside the pen. Now my only problem is my dream chicken, a Wyandotte, is a rooster. Can't keep him because of noise ordinance. So sad. He is just a gentle giant.

 

[Cheep N Peep]

Queen Ruby, have you heard of NoCrowCollars?

 

[appps]

Just getting ready to try the safe areas integration with my five week olds. Have divided their run in half so the babies can safely learn the lay of the land and where the escape holes are before I put them all together. So far the silly things haven't worked out any of the escape holes sigh. One has also been spotted pecking the top hen through the dividing fence duh. Shall be interesting to see how it goes, probably later this week.

 

[QueenRuby]

Last night after dark I placed all the chickens in the coop and shut the door. This morning they came out and starting eating with little aggressive pecking. I kept them locked in the pen all day and all was fine. I did place extra food and water dishes inside the pen. Now my only problem is my dream chicken, a Wyandotte, is a rooster. Can't keep him because of noise ordinance. So sad. He is just a gentle giant.

Queen Ruby, have you heard of NoCrowCollars?

Read you post late last night and immediately checked it out online. I'm going to do more research. Thanks for the info. Now I have some hope about keeping Gigantor

 

[Jennn27]

Read you post late last night and immediately checked it out online. I'm going to do more research. Thanks for the info. Now I have some hope about keeping Gigantor

That would break my heart. I love my rooster! Good luck!