6-8 week olds free ranging around 1.5-2.5 week old babies - think this will work?

[thistlewick]

I think this is hilarious that we let our girls out all day if they want and they just... stay inside the pen for the most part of the day LOL it's shady and cooler in there in this Carolina heat! They're adorable I love them.

ANYWAY do ya'll think this set up will work for integration or do I need to move that smaller tractor closer? They have investigated the chicks already - just curious looking and absolutely zero pecking or aggression today so far.

Oh and btw, those bigger girls in the large pen/coop have been outside since 1.5/2.5 weeks so I'm not worried about these littles at all. They were raised in that smaller tractor before moving to the big girl coop.

(we are getting another big girl coop/tractor, will be ready in 2 weeks)

 

[Mrs. K]

Integration often depends on numbers of birds.

A huge problem in integration is territorial rights. When confined to a smaller area, that is the territory they claim. When they are moved out of that area - they know they are in the wrong place, and others know they are in 'their' territory and will defend.

I don't think the way you have it set up will do much for integration. They are separate places. What I would do, is put the littles in the big's set up, and lock the bigs outside free ranging. This lets the littles explore the area without being chased for their lives and develop some territorial rights. It lets the bigs see the littles in 'their' territory and the sky does not fall. Feed along the fence line.

But my real question is how many birds? In the larger set up - 3-4 full size birds would fit, in the smaller set up, possibly 2. Often times the pre-fab coops vastly overstate the number of birds that can fit in them. It is kind of hard to believe, what is more than enough space for chicks, is no where near enough space for adult birds. Do not think that 'free ranging' can make up for too small of coop.


Mrs K

 

[thistlewick]

Integration often depends on numbers of birds.

A huge problem in integration is territorial rights. When confined to a smaller area, that is the territory they claim. When they are moved out of that area - they know they are in the wrong place, and others know they are in 'their' territory and will defend.

I don't think the way you have it set up will do much for integration. They are separate places. What I would do, is put the littles in the big's set up, and lock the bigs outside free ranging. This lets the littles explore the area without being chased for their lives and develop some territorial rights. It lets the bigs see the littles in 'their' territory and the sky does not fall. Feed along the fence line.

But my real question is how many birds? In the larger set up - 3-4 full size birds would fit, in the smaller set up, possibly 2. Often times the pre-fab coops vastly overstate the number of birds that can fit in them. It is kind of hard to believe, what is more than enough space for chicks, is no where near enough space for adult birds. Do not think that 'free ranging' can make up for too small of coop.


Mrs K

lol the bigger coop has 14 feet of roosting space

the second coop we're getting will have 10 feet of roosting space

that is 24 feet of roosting space for 21 birds (not to mention the use of this cute little tractor, which has 4 feet of roosting space) - and as I've read here on this site before *many* times, space requirements for roosting actually drop the more chickens you have.

There is no 'territory' as they all will free range, and their tractor/coop is moved weekly....there is no run they will be stuck in all day. The pen we have up isn't permanent, it's a solution for right now as they grow up... a little more shade, a space for them to run to in a bird flies over. It's just for daytime use and the door is open from sunup til sundown.

 

[ChicNmom]

I keep my little ones near the big ones so they can see each other.
Once they get used to that I start letting them out together. Right now only the big girls get out all day and the younger ones get some yard time when I put the big girls in for the night. So similar to what you're doing and it's been pretty easy.

I wait until they are bigger but I'm way behind with this group.

 

[thistlewick]

I keep my little ones near the big ones so they can see each other.
Once they get used to that I start letting them out together. Right now only the big girls get out all day and the younger ones get some yard time when I put the big girls in for the night. So similar to what you're doing and it's been pretty easy.

I wait until they are bigger but I'm way behind with this group.

View attachment 3884637

yes! this is totally what we plan -- the bigger girls are just super curious about them right now, will see how it goes!!

 

[Ridgerunner]

The way I do it is to keep the littles in their coop/run where the bigs can see them until I am confident the littles will return to their coop at night when I let them out. Then I let them out. They may invade the personal spade of the bigs at first, but they get pecked. They pretty much learn to avoid the bigs immediately. After that I have two separate flocks. The littles avoid the bigs, the bigs do not go out of their way to chase the littles.

When I'm ready to let the littles sleep with the bigs I stick them in the big coop after dark, then go out there at daybreak to see how it is going and open the pop door. After I'm comfortable they are not going to get beat up I sleep in later.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Roost space is only part of the equation. They don't spend all the time they are in the coop on the roost. They start out on the floor, milling around, trying to get up on the roost. If there is inadequate space for the milling around, there may be problems such as pecking, which can lead to even more serious problems. A bleeding hen may be seriously beat up or even cannibalized by her flock mates. A common rule of thumb is to allow 4 sq ft of clear floor space per hen. Subtract from that total any space occupied by nests, waterers, feeders or anything else that obstructs the floor space.

 

[Mrs. K]

My apologies. I misinterpreted the pictures, they just do not look like there would be 14 feet of roost space in there. Must be the angle of the picture.

And I also missed that you were adding another coop.

The biggest issue when new people come here, is that they often think that they can keep birds in small coops if they 'free range' all day. The long nights of winter, or storms can play havoc with that, and lead to ugly chicken behaviors.

Mrs K

 

[thistlewick]

Roost space is only part of the equation. They don't spend all the time they are in the coop on the roost. They start out on the floor, milling around, trying to get up on the roost. If there is inadequate space for the milling around, there may be problems such as pecking, which can lead to even more serious problems. A bleeding hen may be seriously beat up or even cannibalized by her flock mates. A common rule of thumb is to allow 4 sq ft of clear floor space per hen. Subtract from that total any space occupied by nests, waterers, feeders or anything else that obstructs the floor space.

Mine don't, they go up to bed and hop right on the roosts, maybe they are weird!

There are no feed or water containers on the floor of the coop, those are down in the run of the tractor.

My apologies. I misinterpreted the pictures, they just do not look like there would be 14 feet of roost space in there. Must be the angle of the picture.

And I also missed that you were adding another coop.

The biggest issue when new people come here, is that they often think that they can keep birds in small coops if they 'free range' all day. The long nights of winter, or storms can play havoc with that, and lead to ugly chicken behaviors.

Mrs K

I live in the center of North Carolina, winters here are *mild* and hens can lay all winter if you give them additional heat, or so I'm told by local chicken keepers here that I've met.

We've had thunderstorms with pounding rain the last two days... my chickens free range out in them.

They never got the memo to be scared or worried I guess. lol They love it!! It brings out the bugs!

 

[thistlewick]

Currently coming down; my chickens: