would this disrupt life as we know it?

[m2wandc]

every night my two big birds go into the coop...and the two little birds huddle up in the corner (same corner) on the ground outside of the coop...

...as it is now, we scoop them up and put them in the coop for the night each night...

Would it disrupt the flock dynamics (since we finally got them intergrated after much effort) to put a mini coop down there on the ground in the corner for the little birds to call their own...so at night we just have to close two doors, rather then scoop up two birds and put them in every night?

Would having them sleep in separate places at night but be together in the day mess things up???

 

[clarkestep]

I think eventually they will go into the big coop too. We had to do this with ours when we first put them outside. It lasted a week or so it seemed.

 

[popcornpuppy]

I would say that if you finally got them intergrated, leave them be. That way when it's cold they can cuddle together. Remember, there is safety in numbers and if your flock has become a united family, then let them stay together.

 

[cmom]

If they are already together leave them. In the beginning I had to put my younger birds in the coop too. Now they all go in. Have you tried just shutting everyone in the coop for a couple of days? I did that and every evening just before dusk I started giving the birds treats in their coop. I kept it up for awhile and slowly cut back until no more treats in their coop in the eves.

 

[hikerchick]

My chickens sleep in separate coops and roosting areas at night and free range together during the day. They all sleep with their brooder mates. The other chickens in the yard are more like acquaintances and they are not going to sleep with each other.

 

[newchicksnducks]

When first integrating my older chicks (11 weeks) with younger chicks (6 weeks), the big girls went to bed by themselves, while the younger ones waited for me. The young ones are very people oriented, so all I had to do was go into the coop and call, they would come running. Now they all put themselves to bed in the coop. The little girls are even roosting at night! It took a couple of days for the little ones to get the ideal of going in at dusk, then a few more days for them to learn to roost. They'll get the idea, just be patient, help out for a week or so.

It is interesting how they sleep though. The three 11 week olds huddled on the roost next to each other, several feet of empty roost, then the seven 6 week olds huddled together on the roosts. While integrated as a flock, they definately have their own set of friends - their brooder mates!

 

[m2wandc]

Quote:
They aren't a family of four...but rather two groups of two that co-exist in the same run....

The two older chickens go into the coop at night

The two younger chickens huddle up on the ground outside in a corner

We have been putting the two silkies (that huddle on the ground) inside the coop with the other two at night for about 3 weeks now (maybe longer)

***

Then in the morning when the coop door is open:

The two older chickens come out and the two younger chickens choose to spend most of the day in the coop...then come out eventually...but never walk DOWN the run way...always fly out...and so I'm wondering if they can't get back up and in at night?

 

[m2wandc]

Quote:
I did treats in the coop for about a week and the older birds just gobbled them up and the younger birds still needed to be lifted up in there...

 

[m2wandc]

I should mention the age of the chickens?

the two older ones are 15 weeks and the two younger ones are 12+ weeks old.

******

Here are the chickens:

Buffy & Rocky

Ping & Pong

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

I think you should build them a little preditor proof dog house type coop that the silkies could go in.

I have my 3 banties in their own dog house turned banty tractor and they go in every night and huddle together in one corner. The silkies don't roost and the cochin that would probably roost is content cuddling with the others.

It's obvious after all this time that they don't like to or can't go up the ramp.