I moved 4 of my 6 chicks (2 months old) to the big coop. In the big coop lives Miss C, Miss Z and RR (Rescue Rooster) I would have moved all of them but was not sure about moving the young rooster Spiderman in there and did not want him to be alone so I left the smallest chick Stripes in with him. Yesterday I found a chick Speed that had got herself stuck in the big coop between chicken wire, so I moved her back up to the small coop. The other 3 chicks have had no problems,and infact Miss Z has taken over the mother stance and gives me the evil eye when I come in to check on them.
Here are the questions.
Can I move the smaller Roo Spiderman in with RR and the girls? Should I wait till Stripes gets bigger to move her in, she is really small, smaller than the rest. Will Speed be okay with Stripes and Spiderman at the house for a few more weeks and then move them into the big coop, or should I move Spiderman in now and leave Speed and Stripes at the house for now?
Advise Needed on putting chicks with older hens
I have never had luck moving any chicks into the "Big house" without them being almost the same size. It can be dangerous to the babies because they are so small. I was told to wait until they are similar in size. (even then they may need to be in a cage within the area so the others can get use to seeing them.) I however am not the most experienced one with this. I will keep an eye on this thread so I can see what others do. I had to remove my roo in order to introduce the girls last fall because he kept trying to kill them. Eventually I let him back in after the girls were established. Now everyone is okay. It does not always work out though. Good luck! Let me know how you make out. ;)
I dont mind having Spiderman close to the house, I love to hear him try to crow. Since I moved the others out, he seems to not want to crow, I am wondering if I should move the others back. They are blending in just fine in the big coop, so I dont know what to do. The 6 were all raised together, and now I have seperated 3 of them in the big coop and
in the baby coop...Oh I kind of feel bad.
You can try on a day that you are able to watch them closely. If you can be there when he trys that would be good. The first sign of it going wrong you can jump in and save him. LOL You do not have as many chickens and that may work in your favor. If you try just make it a day you will be able to be there. I know how you feel not wanting him to be lonely. I had one surviver out of a batch I hatched out in Jan. I had to put it in with two chickens who were over two weeks older. The baby looked like a bumble bee compared to them. Believe it or not they are a flock together now and you couldnt seperate them if you tried. hehehe I wish you the best. Please let me know how it goes if you try. :D
Miss Jester, if I understand you right! you want to integrate another Roo, with an existing Roo and hens? Is that right? I would rather him be lonely rather than dead. If he as you said is a smaller roo and wants some of the girls, the Rescue Roo might just have something to say about that. If you have lots of room for the birds then at least there is an escape for the smaller roo, but without that your asking for trouble more than likely. As Sew well advised if you want to try it you should be there to see that all goes well. If I misunderstood you, please accept my apology. Haystack
Usually if you move them.. try to do it all together, they quickly forget who the others are.. if you move the rest later.. it's the same thing all over again...
Good Luck!
I have sad news to report.
Pickles has passed on to the chicken coop in the sky. I dont know what happened, as I had left 3 of the babies, Pickels, Chipmunk and Happy in the big coop and they seemed to be doing fine with the big chickens. I got home late from work yesterday and thank goodness Billy stayed in the truck eating his chips cause when I went in to feed, I found Pickles dead. I moved her out so he would not see it.
Then I ran up to the house and got the travel cage and got Chipmunk and Happy and returned them to the small coop up at the house with the rest of the crew. I felt so bad all night last night. When I went to the small coop, I counted the chickens and it was just not right there were not 6 in there, only 5.
I think Spiderman approved cause he had not been crowing since it was just him and two girls, and this am when I went out to feed, he met me with a crow... He is surrounded back with 4 of his girls, I think he is happy.
This will mean I will have to figure out a way to shore up the other big coop and put that group in there. It is the old coop the coyotes got in somehow, so this will take some doing on my part to figure out. Until then, they can stay at the small coop in the front BBQ Area, and we can still sit on the porch and watch them.
When I finally move them, I will have 2 coops of chickens, one with RR, Miss C and Miss Z, and the other one being Billys group the strange names.
I have learned from my mistake, and I really feel bad.
Oh MissJester, I am so sorry. I know how sad it is to loose a little one. I am also glad (as you said) that Billy was in the truck and did not see the baby that passed. {{HUGS}} I know its a lot of work to fix up the other coop. I will be thinking of you.
Thank you... I know it was just a chicken to some people, but to me and Billy it was part of the family. I had come to love them little ones as they were the first I had ever raised from Babies...
Miss Jester!!! I am very sorry about your loss, and I do understand. They are not just chickens to most of us. We put our hearts and souls into it. However I do admire your venturing into an unknown world, and yes you will make mistakes, and will learn from them. As you grow from your mistakes other little ones will benefit. There will be others, just because of your kind and loving heart. The benefits will began to out weigh the heart-aches. Be of good courage and keep on keeping on. You and Billy are both important to us. Haystack
Thank you Haystack, I know I will make the mistakes, just like I have done with the horses and with raising Billy, but in the end, I learn a lesson and go on. I am happy to know that the little ones will be around the house for us to watch...
I'm so sorry MissJestr.. I have been down that learning curve, actually more than once, and it's very painful indeed. The good thing here at DG is, you are not alone! I don't think anyone here thinks "it's just a chicken"....
Raising chickens is actually harder than raising horses and that ain't easy! I thought I had tough skin.. but I don't.. It is hard to take all the heartache involved.. but I do my best.. as I'm so sure you are. No one can ask more than that!