Wing It Ranch

[WingItRanch]

Simply adorable - cuteness overload. Is that an egger up front looking at the camera?

Yes! She should lay light green colored eggs... should. I suspect it's a cockerel because of the overly friendly attitude.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Chicks are doing really well. The first night they were in their new pen was chaos. I went out at dust to check on them and they were huddled on the ground crying loudly instead of upstairs in the coop.

To be fair, I screwed up. I should have locked them in the coop for a couple days so they knew that was the safe place.

So there I was, crawling around on my hands and knees in poop and grabbing them to put them in the coop. I had to block the door to the ladder so they didn't run back out. Then I had a couple that escaped completely and had to chase them. By the time I got them all locked up, they were traumatized and I was panting.

Thankfully, the next day they went up to the coop by themselves and have been putting themselves to bed each night and going back downstairs into the run in the mornings. Whew!

They are no longer scared of me and come running to the door when they see me. They also seem completely unafraid of the big girls. Here's a pic of the dark Blue Copper Marans standing up to 2 of my Barred Rocks.
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The younger they are the less the hens see them as a threat to resources, they're more just curious. Have you thought about making some little chick sized doors in between the two enclosures to speed up integration? My chicks usually make their way into the big coop on their own by around 6 weeks.

 

[WingItRanch]

The younger they are the less the hens see them as a threat to resources, they're more just curious. Have you thought about making some little chick sized doors in between the two enclosures to speed up integration? My chicks usually make their way into the big coop on their own by around 6 weeks.

Hmm I have not... right now I'm about to start the big project of expanding the main run and turning it into an open air coop.

My plan was to wait until they're close to the same size and start allowing free range time along with the hens.

 

[WingItRanch]

Took some updated pics. I got all females but here's the one I suspect is a cockerel and have from day 1:

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Took some updated pics. I got all females but here's the one I suspect is a cockerel and have from day 1:
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What breed? EE? OE? If either of the 2, I wouldn't worry too much, pattern and coloring say pullet. They are growing fast

 

[Bawkbok]

Very pretty birds. That looks to be a sand base. Is that construction sand? How does that work in your climate?

 

[WingItRanch]

Very pretty birds. That looks to be a sand base. Is that construction sand? How does that work in your climate?

It's actually peletized pine that got wet and turned to sawdust. I wasn't planning on putting anything down but we had a crazy amount of rain and it was puddling. The silly chicks were drinking mud water. The pine pellets are a life safer!

@Auntiejessi3 they are OEs with a Welsummer mixed in. I've been keeping on eye on this one because of his bold and friendly personality at only a day old. Now I'm seeing his comb pinken up and he's much darker than my other one of the same mix. Suspicious....

 

[WingItRanch]

Ran an experiment today. My dog Roman hates it when I go out to the chickens without him but since I started free ranging, I just didn't trust he wouldn't lunge. Well, today I thought I would give it a shot. He was such a good boy! First I started him on leash then off leash when I realized he was so used to the chickens that he cared more about finding their poop to eat (gross, I know. He's obsessed with it and sneaky about finding bits).

 

[Bawkbok]

Congratulations on that! What a pretty boy. Seems like he'll make a good chicken poochie and yes, they love the "delicacies" they find in the yard. It's disgusting - just no kisses from Roman anymore.

 

[WingItRanch]

Question for y'all.... how long should I wait to integrate? I'm quite nervous about it because my hens are pretty fiesty to each other. I'm dreading to see how they treat the 8 new comers. The babies are 8 weeks old tomorrow. At what age would they be close to the same size? I'm guessing 12 weeks?...

Here they are all taking a nap in a pile yesterday: