I need some chicken advice

[VanillaGorilla]

Just before Easter, my wife and I brought home our first 2 chicks...a 3 week old (at that time) Australorp hen and a 1 day old barred rock hen. We kept them inside in a bunny cage until I finished building a hen house and pen for them to live in permanently. The following Monday we decided to get two more hens and we purchased 2 three week old chicks (a buff orpington and a silver laced wyandotte....I don't know if listing the breeds here would help, but I figured it can't hurt and may or may not be relevant).

Anyway, now the 2 younger chicks are about the same age as our barred rock was when we began letting her live in the coop so we have decided to try putting them both out there as well.

So we put them in the hen house late last night. For a few minutes, the babies (we call 'em our babies...lol) were chirpping quite a bit but eventually calmed down and the two older birds never made a peep.

This morning, I opened up the chick door/ramp to let them out. The older girls came out right away as usual and of course the 2 little ones were hesitant but eventually made it out into their new little yard. I stood outside of the pen to let them roam around freely but also to keep on eye on the situation until I was sure they were assimilating with the other chickens.

All was well until they made their way to the food and then the Australorp became pretty agressive with them. Pecking and throwing her feet at them. I made my way into the pen to stand between the two pair for a little while but decided to put the smaller chicks back into their bunny cage for the time being. I don't know if they are quite big enough to defend themselfs against the Australorp if she becomes more aggressive.

I apologize for the long winded story, but I wanted to paint as clear of a picture as possible and, Anyways, my question(s) is, what is the easiest way to bring my little flock together? Should I wait until the younger birds are a bit bigger? or is my Australorp just estabilishing some dominance and I should/shouldn't worry?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Dave

[Linda]

Dave
I also have the Buff and Winedots. I understand that they are very easy to get on with other chicks. I have mine with 2 Jersey Giants and they are all bout the same age. The Jersey's are a dominate type and the others are passive. I heard that the ages should be about the same so they can grow together. I may be wrong, but so far mine are doing fine. I think you are right in seperating the young for now, but what do I no for sure, these are my first 6 chicks...lol ....and these are my babies too.
Linda

[VanillaGorilla]

That's okay Linda, I appreciate the reply either way. I wish we actually would've gotten all 4 at the same time but we didn't...we just decided we wanted 2 more after the first 2 so this is where we're at with it all. Thank you again for responding.

[SimplyForties]

There are lots of tricks to try and lessen those integration blues. Waiting until the new chicks are about the same size as the existent ones is good if you have that luxury. It actually sounds like your birds are very close in age, is that right? Having the new chicks in a cage next to the run where the two sets of chickens can see each other but not get at each other is way to familiarize them. As you already learned, adding the new chickens at night is a good idea. At the end of day though, no matter what you do, there will definitely be some establishing of the pecking order. Much as we love our chickens and hate to watch them get picked on, you'll have to let a certain amount of that take place. I don't think you should try and stop anything that doesn't draw blood. Good luck!

[Kittikity]

The australorp was probably just claiming the food as hers.. Providing more than one feeding container will also help.. Make a place with wire, wood, whatever that only the little ones can get into.. Even a box turned upside down with a door cut in it.. This will give the little ones a place to run to when the bigger chicks pick on them.. The pecking order can seem cruel at times, but you can't explain equal rights to a chicken..

[VanillaGorilla]

There are lots of tricks to try and lessen those integration blues. Waiting until the new chicks are about the same size as the existent ones is good if you have that luxury. It actually sounds like your birds are very close in age, is that right? Having the new chicks in a cage next to the run where the two sets of chickens can see each other but not get at each other is way to familiarize them. As you already learned, adding the new chickens at night is a good idea. At the end of day though, no matter what you do, there will definitely be some establishing of the pecking order. Much as we love our chickens and hate to watch them get picked on, you'll have to let a certain amount of that take place. I don't think you should try and stop anything that doesn't draw blood. Good luck!

Thank you very much....that is what I was thinking but I didn't want to be too careless until I looked for some advice first. Thanks.

[VanillaGorilla]

The australorp was probably just claiming the food as hers.. Providing more than one feeding container will also help.. Make a place with wire, wood, whatever that only the little ones can get into.. Even a box turned upside down with a door cut in it.. This will give the little ones a place to run to when the bigger chicks pick on them.. The pecking order can seem cruel at times, but you can't explain equal rights to a chicken..

That sounds like a great idea. The rabbit cage we have them in now, I think, would work perfect for that actually. It has a seperate top with a door that opens from the top down and would be a good ramp for them to enter on and the two larger girls would never fit inside the cage now. Thank you for the tip. I'll definetly give it a try.