Introducing chicks to new unfamiliar flock?

[blueberryeevee]

I think this is kind of a tricky problem.
We got our chicks at 1 wk old, they are now almost 7 wks old. After we finished building their coop, my boyfriend and I bought 3 laying hens (the “Ladies”) from a farm to live in there in the meantime.

We tried introducing the chicks (the “Babies”) on warm, sunny days by putting them in the run with the Ladies. We did this for a few days, and watched the Babies interact with the Ladies the entire time they were out there (just in case).

The problem is, the Ladies seem to bully the Babies too much for our liking. It’s not so intense that the Babies are in danger, and we do understand they need to establish the pecking order, but we noticed the Babies would huddle up and stay as far from the Ladies as they could. If one Baby strayed, the Ladies would peck them and chase them away.

We want to move the Babies into the coop soon, because at ~7 weeks they’re getting too big for the pen we have them in. But I’m extremely nervous that if we leave them in there overnight, the Ladies might seriously injure them.

Should we build a second small coop for them in the meantime? It would be pretty expensive and time consuming for us, but we’ll do it if we have to. Even if the Babies can “survive” the light bullying by the Ladies, I don’t want to cause them too much undue stress. We would love to hear if there’s any other options or helpful advice!

Additional info:
Out of the babies, we believe two are roos and they don't have as hard of a time fending off the Ladies’ pecks, but it still seems unpleasant for them and they are still pretty small.

The Ladies come from a farm where they completely free-roamed, I don’t think they even had a coop. They seem to be getting happier and more relaxed with the safety we offer them, but maybe their past has something to do with their bullying?

(Attached is a photo of most of the Babies, Kerrigan the obvious Buff Orp rooster, Magneto the Silkie x Leghorn, Bernadette the Gold Laced Wyandotte, and the fluffy butt of JB, the Buff Orp hen. Behind them is Bunny the Easter egger mix, one of the Ladies)

 

[rosemarythyme]

The bullying is completely normal and expected - until the younger birds reach point of lay the older ones won't accept them.

Can we get pictures of the coop inside and out? How many roosts inside? Easiest way to handle it would be to either divide the coop for a few days, or to put in a separate enclosure inside (i.e. a cage, a dog crate) but seeing what you're working with would help.

 

[AGeese]

Space is the issue. Not really sure how you get around that without free ranging, but if you want them not to be bullied as often you may have to expand.

 

[Mrs. K]

If you can't expand, you need to reduce the flock. Do measure. The thing is, what seems like more than enough space for chicks, rapidly becomes not enough space as they grow. I am counting 6-7 birds? if so you need at 10 square feet for the run, and 4 square feet in the coop (rule of thumb) per bird.

My advice - take what you want. I would cull the roosters soon, by giving them away or eating them. You are short on space, and inexperienced. Roosters take some experience, and can become very mean.

If you look at your run, you will see that there is no way to get out of sight. Every chicken can see every other chicken 100% of the time. There is no way to 'bow to the queen'. When two chickens meet, one needs to give way to the higher bird. If they do not give way, then a peck to remind them is given. If the bird does not retreat, the pecking can get harder, and harder and others may join in.

The problem in you set up, is there is no place to retreat to, and get out of sight. Even though it is a small space, you are wasting all the vertical space. IMO the space should be cluttered, so that it is difficult for people to walk in. Add roosts, ladder, saw horses, pallets leaned against the wall, up on blocks, anything to allow birds to get away from each other.

Setting up multiple feed bowls will also help. But they need to be set up so that a bird eating at on, cannot see a bird eating at another.

 

[blueberryeevee]

The bullying is completely normal and expected - until the younger birds reach point of lay the older ones won't accept them.

Can we get pictures of the coop inside and out? How many roosts inside? Easiest way to handle it would be to either divide the coop for a few days, or to put in a separate enclosure inside (i.e. a cage, a dog crate) but seeing what you're working with would help.

Im not home right now but the coop is 4.5’x 5’, and about 7’ tall (it turned out a lot taller than we planned after we added the roof LOL) and has four roosting bars, and three nesting boxes that aren’t inside, they like hang off the side. There’s definitely a lot of room, I may end up sectioning off part of it for the babies. I don’t think the Ladies would mind too much because they dont spend a lot of time in there and all 3 share one roosting bar every night.

 

[blueberryeevee]

If you can't expand, you need to reduce the flock. Do measure. The thing is, what seems like more than enough space for chicks, rapidly becomes not enough space as they grow. I am counting 6-7 birds? if so you need at 10 square feet for the run, and 4 square feet in the coop (rule of thumb) per bird.

My advice - take what you want. I would cull the roosters soon, by giving them away or eating them. You are short on space, and inexperienced. Roosters take some experience, and can become very mean.

If you look at your run, you will see that there is no way to get out of sight. Every chicken can see every other chicken 100% of the time. There is no way to 'bow to the queen'. When two chickens meet, one needs to give way to the higher bird. If they do not give way, then a peck to remind them is given. If the bird does not retreat, the pecking can get harder, and harder and others may join in.

The problem in you set up, is there is no place to retreat to, and get out of sight. Even though it is a small space, you are wasting all the vertical space. IMO the space should be cluttered, so that it is difficult for people to walk in. Add roosts, ladder, saw horses, pallets leaned against the wall, up on blocks, anything to allow birds to get away from each other.

Setting up multiple feed bowls will also help. But they need to be set up so that a bird eating at on, cannot see a bird eating at another.

The run is definitely not ideal, it’s a reclaimed run we got for free and patched together while we build a bigger, nicer run. You make a great point that there’s nowhere for them to “hide”, I think that would really help. I’m going to spend a lot of time today rearranging and adding things and maybe try introducing them again soon to see if it’s working any better

 

[blueberryeevee]

Space is the issue. Not really sure how you get around that without free ranging, but if you want them not to be bullied as often you may have to expand.

I agree, we are in the process of putting together a much larger run for when everyone is fully moved in, but I think we’ll have to be faster about it lol

 

[aart]

You make a great point that there’s nowhere for them to “hide”, I think that would really help. I’m going to spend a lot of time today rearranging and adding things

Good ideas for hiding places:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/

 

[Mrs. K]

Even if you get things set up, and they start getting along now, do know a couple things:

• The chicks will stick together in a sub flock, until they start to lay, and then the sub flock will just disappear. It is kind of amazing.
• At the very least plan to remove one rooster, and both if you get the chance. An all hen flock is a nice flock to start with, and roosters do take experience. The more roosters you have, the greater the chance of it going horribly wrong.
• No matter what you do, how you raise them, roosters are a crap shoot and the darlings can become the nightmare. At the very least have a dog crate or something to separate them from the flock or each other.
• If you have small children, know that roosters tend to attack them first.

Mrs K

 

[Ridgerunner]

So five chicks and 3 hens. At least one cockerel, possibly two. What are your plans for those boys? If you are going to get rid of one or both now might be a good time. If you are going to eat one or both you can wait until they grow some. If you are planning on keeping one or both we can help you with that later. When they hit puberty (typically anywhere between 12 and 20 weeks of age) their hormones can cause them to be pretty disruptive. It would help to know your location so we understand your climate to discuss that.

That 4 square feet in the coop with 10 square feet per bird in the run are usually pretty good numbers for chickens that have already been integrated. It is tight for some people but often more than the bare minimum others need.

But integration takes more room. It is not a square feet thing. If my chicks invade the personal space of an adult there is a reasonable chance they will get pecked. The chicks usually quickly learn to avoid the adults. They are so scared they panic if a hen even walks toward them. They need enough room to be able to run away and stay away. If they can't run far enough the hen might take it as a challenge to her authority and keep attacking. To me, this is the biggest danger to those chicks.

Many of us cannot provide a lot of room. That's why people are mentioning clutter, things that the chicks can hide under, behind, or get up high enough the adults aren't bothered.

So what can you do? Look at adding clutter. Is there a realistic way you can increase run size? I don't know how big it is now, give them as much room as you can. Don't be surprised if your chicks are in the coop when the adults are in the run or in the run if your adults go into the coop.

Nighttime is another issue. My pullets generally do not sleep on the roosts with the adults until they start laying so they need somewhere out of reach to sleep. That might be on the coop floor. That might be on a separate roost. It could be a nest, which you do not want. They poop at night and you do not want a poopy nest. It is possible your chicks will find a pace to sleep inside that coop or they may want to sleep in the run. I don't care where mine sleep as long as it is not in the nest and is predator safe. I don't know if you consider your run predator proof. Mine is not.

I like to house my chicks near the adults for a while before they are allowed to mingle. You are past that point. So I suggest letting them roam in the run/coop during the day for a few days to see if they are getting attacked. Once they prove to me they can coexist in my run area I put the chicks in the main coop after it is too dark for the adults to attack, then get out there at daybreak to see how it is going. What I typically find is that the adults are on the coop floor while the chicks are up on the roosts out of reach. Once I'm comfortable they will be OK I can sleep in some but those first few mornings can be early ones.

I have it easy with my 8' x 12' coop, 12' x 32' run, plus over 2,000 square feet enclosed in electric netting. The young have plenty of room to avoid the adults. Many people with space as tight as yours are successful but it can be more work and it can be stressful. Good luck!