Backyard Chickens?
- Thread starter Dragonborn
- Start date
And yes, the older ones are mean to the youngers. Most of the time they separate themselves, the olders on one side and the youngers on the other side of the run. They are a good 15’ apart and then one of the olders will intentionally go over after the youngers. Surprisingly, it’s only three doing it and they are the docile ones in the older group. I am watching them close being referee but at same time allowing the pecking order to evolve.
I just went to Harbor Freight to get some bolt latches for the gates- cheap there…only $1.99 for good 4” bolt latch whereas they are $8 everywhere else. Anyways, a little thunderstorm came through and when I came back, they were all in the coop. Separated in distance yes, but I was surprised the olders let them in.
So I am now debating on whether or not to fix the youngers a temp coop outside in the run. I put a dog crate in the run to use as a quarantine sick shack or a jail house for a mean hen. I am thinking since it is going to get down to 79dgs tonight….to put an old blanket over it and put the youngers in there. They are only about 10% feathered with the rest being fluff.
But yes….overall very happy and surprised that all is working out well. Just wish that Rag was here to be apart of this. I would love to see his reaction.
One of the things I learned with chickens is that they are.not.nice. Like dogs, they really have to have structure and a pecking order. Those 21 chicks I got as our first go-round? They had an order. The bottom chicken, her name was Bonnie Blue, she had zero "friends", she got pecked if she got close to any chicken. She became a loner and knew how to keep her distance & stay safe, but she was always on the outskirts of the flock, so always part of it. Then we had our first batch of new chicks, raised by one of the other hens, then weaned off, then had to come integrate into the coop/roost at night. All the higher upper chickens just ignored them, or pecked at them if they got too bold. Bonnie Blue? I thought she would relish having "friends" for a change. Young poults that would not peck at her or push her around. She roosted alone at the far end of the roost, she could have let them sidle up to her and she'd have company... Nope. She bullied them worse than anybody in the older flock. She was vicious and relentless. The one on the bottom has finally got a place in the pecking order to be able to rise above being last. Chicken dynamics are pretty educational about all of us earthly creatures. It's amazing to watch, I rarely interfered.
My heart breaks for you. It can't possibly be easy. Hoping Freja is doing well.
Holy cow, I'd be melting with your letting up temps....
Rits
Hot Topics Subscriber
Yep!! The lowest on the pecking order will be the meanest to the newbies. They don't want to be the lowest for this new group. I have a super sweet hen that is the lowest in my current hen flock. New chicks (including her own daughter) and shes a straight up ruthless biyotch LOL. If you have to, a dog kennel for a week with the new chicks inside it placed in the coop with everyone works great to slowly mingle them. Then put them together at night on the roost. They'll eventually figure it out and its better that you have about equal number of chicks. Too many for the one or two bullies to target one chick. Power in numbers! You also have a fair amount of room and differing places for them to escape to.
One other option, you could give the new chicks access to the run while the older chicks stay in the coop during the day, granted it is cool enough to do so. That way the new chicks can explore and figure out all the places they can fly up to to escape. I can't remember how old they are if they are old enough to fly yet though.
Great to see you having fun with them! I hope you have a garden. Now you have endless fertilizer
Not sure if I've posted this photo before - back when we had the huge flock, completely free-ranging where ever they wanted to go. Live and learn: fewer chickens worked better and so did restricting their space. 
But sure was easy on the eyes watching them all day.
But sure was easy on the eyes watching them all day.
Well, it was planned to have less - we wanted 10 - 12 hens and thought we wanted to learn to harvest some meat so got a straight run and so half were roosters. Then it was hard to bring ourselves to do the deed, so there were 21 chickens out there, young roosters starting to grow up, then a coyote came in and killed a hen, plus back then, the outer fence was just a straight wire fence, so the wild critters came through the property all the time. There was no fence around the front yard so the chickens thought the front porch was the BEST place to roost all day, and scratching through the few flower beds I had was their biggest mission in life. Chicken poop was EVERYWHERE. We processed the roosters - absolutely the best chicken I ever tasted, and it's a good thing to know how to do, but the dispatching is hard. Then we got down to 9 or 10 and had some baby chicks raised by hens and then got 6 more chicks but still, about 10 laying chickens we had so many eggs! You have to get rid of the fresh eggs fast, but 3 - 4 dozen eggs a week is a lot. We quit adding chickens and now there's just these 4 old hens and the lame rooster. All but one have quit laying for the winter, but I sure do like to have just 5 or 6. But I need younger ones now for eggs.... The free range is good until a predator finds them. The bobcat is about the best predator I could have wished for. Only takes one and gets the hell out. But will keep coming back until they are all gone, so at least we figured out how to outwit the bobcat. Chickens in about 1/2 acre paddock with hot wire on the outside. After doing that, I realized how nice it was to not have the yard full of chickens dust bath holes, poop on the porch, etc.
But I DO miss looking at them. I can't see them from our house now and miss sitting on the porch in the evening and watching them.
They're really cute!My son sent me this screenshot saying "I couldn't resist. They will be on your doorstep in a couple days."
View attachment 138593
So my chicks are coming up on three months of age. I opened the nesting boxes and they are curious to go in there and lounge around some. I also notice some squatting a lot more often…
I do know egg laying generally occurs at 4-6months depending on the species, so not getting eggs anytime soon. But, having been trying to figure out which feed I want to go to next.
SMH, holy shit….the reviews, recommendations, advice, etc is just as quirky and contradictory as when I researched dog food.
Crumble
Layer feed
Mash
Fermented
Pellets
16% 18% or 20% protein?
GMO or non GMO
Grit
All Flock
With calcium?
Without calcium but have calcium on side
Egg shells or oyster shells for calcium
I get it and understand it all but at the same crossroads as dog food…which brand to get. As always there are a lot of Purina and TSC haters but then others that just love these brands.
To just list a few:
Purina
TSC
Kalmback
Naturewise
Natures Best
Scratch and Peck
Healthy Harvest
Have looked for a chickenfeedadvisor but no luck!!
Which chicken feed do you use??
I do know egg laying generally occurs at 4-6months depending on the species, so not getting eggs anytime soon. But, having been trying to figure out which feed I want to go to next.
SMH, holy shit….the reviews, recommendations, advice, etc is just as quirky and contradictory as when I researched dog food.
Crumble
Layer feed
Mash
Fermented
Pellets
16% 18% or 20% protein?
GMO or non GMO
Grit
All Flock
With calcium?
Without calcium but have calcium on side
Egg shells or oyster shells for calcium
I get it and understand it all but at the same crossroads as dog food…which brand to get. As always there are a lot of Purina and TSC haters but then others that just love these brands.
To just list a few:
Purina
TSC
Kalmback
Naturewise
Natures Best
Scratch and Peck
Healthy Harvest
Have looked for a chickenfeedadvisor but no luck!!
Which chicken feed do you use??
Rits
Hot Topics Subscriber
Feed whatever you feel comfortable feeding and want to spend/can afford. Purina is known as a good brand for livestock... not as much an issue like with dog feed but people still don't like big name brands so use your own judgement. I've used Nature Wise, Country Companion, Purina, and Dumor. My chickens seem to like the Dumor/TSC brand the least. 
I used to look for pork/porcine blood meal in my feed ingredients since chickens are omnivores but the past two years I've been unable to find it. Most feeds use solely vegetable protein. 
I personally feed all flock because I have a rooster. Feeding them layer feed can drastically shorten their lifespan since they do not need the calcium. It is hard on their liver. I offer oyster shell on the side and only the hens pick at it when they feel they need it. Pellets are fine unless you have little chicks, then you will need crumble. If you ever integrate chicks with the flock, you will want to feed all flock or grower crumble. They also do not need the calcium. Currently I feed Country Companion from the regional feed store. Largely because they offer All Flock at a very reasonable price of $17.99. The other brand I'll use is Nature Wise.
I've done fermented for quite a bit in the past. It does stretch your feed and the chickens love it. Smells like bread! You have to have a few buckets going for each day, so sort of like raw food meal prep for dogs. I stopped because it is kind of a pain to do in the winter here. The chickens don't eat everything in one sitting so it freezes or I had to feed them twice a day like a dang house pet lol... more work that I wasn't looking for. In the summer time, same deal but now heat and flies.
I offer grit from time to time but they must get plenty from the ground since I free range mine because it lasts forever. Yours may get enough grit from the sand if there's little rocks in it.
I used to look for pork/porcine blood meal in my feed ingredients since chickens are omnivores but the past two years I've been unable to find it. Most feeds use solely vegetable protein. I personally feed all flock because I have a rooster. Feeding them layer feed can drastically shorten their lifespan since they do not need the calcium. It is hard on their liver. I offer oyster shell on the side and only the hens pick at it when they feel they need it. Pellets are fine unless you have little chicks, then you will need crumble. If you ever integrate chicks with the flock, you will want to feed all flock or grower crumble. They also do not need the calcium. Currently I feed Country Companion from the regional feed store. Largely because they offer All Flock at a very reasonable price of $17.99. The other brand I'll use is Nature Wise.
I've done fermented for quite a bit in the past. It does stretch your feed and the chickens love it. Smells like bread! You have to have a few buckets going for each day, so sort of like raw food meal prep for dogs. I stopped because it is kind of a pain to do in the winter here. The chickens don't eat everything in one sitting so it freezes or I had to feed them twice a day like a dang house pet lol... more work that I wasn't looking for. In the summer time, same deal but now heat and flies.
I offer grit from time to time but they must get plenty from the ground since I free range mine because it lasts forever. Yours may get enough grit from the sand if there's little rocks in it.
Wow, they got big! And beautiful! And colorful!
Everything @Rits said. Chickens are easy - I liked one feed, they would be out, I'd get another kind, they don't care, they don't get stomach upset or the poops, they just eat. They DO love meat. So now and then I give them some scraps, but not too often. Make it easy on yourself, pick what you want & 99 - 1 you'll be fine.
The only thing I found is that feeding crumbles the wild birds - sparrows/finches - came in constantly and ate at the feeders. The regular pellets didn't seem to be as popular with the chickens, but the wild birds wouldn't touch them. Then I found a medium-small pellet that the wild birds didn't eat and the chickens ate better than the large pellet. Brand didn't matter, size did. LOL.
The only thing I found is that feeding crumbles the wild birds - sparrows/finches - came in constantly and ate at the feeders. The regular pellets didn't seem to be as popular with the chickens, but the wild birds wouldn't touch them. Then I found a medium-small pellet that the wild birds didn't eat and the chickens ate better than the large pellet. Brand didn't matter, size did. LOL.
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Handsome little guy!Similar threads
