Transitioning Chicks
If you find yourself with different ages of chicks and chickens, and you are wanting to integrate the younger into an older flock, the best way is with a transition pen. When your chicks are old enough to be outside without heat but you are worried that your older chickens will peck them too badly, if you have or can build a smaller pen inside or adjacent to your larger pen, with nothing more than screen between them, this will work wonders and save many headaches.
The transition pen should be large enough to easily handle the number of chicks that you have. Equip the pen with feeder and waterer along with a roost or two. Place your chicks in the pen and keep them there for at least 2 weeks. The larger chickens will interact with the younger ones through the fencing. They will learn each others vocalizations and motions. Over a few days time, the larger chickens will barely pay attention to the younger ones.
After 2 weeks time you should be able to release the younger ones out with the older ones for a limited amount of time. Do this at a time when you can be present for the duration of their outing. There will be some minimal pecking which is normal for establishing pecking order. Watch for aggressive behavior. Do this again on the second day for a longer duration. And by the third or forth day you should be able to leave them together for the day.
If you do witness aggressive, behavior beyond the typical pecking, it might be necessary to keep the chicks separated from the older chickens for an extra week.
This technique also works well when introducing new hens into your flock.
Dealing With Aggressive Roosters
We are asked many times a month how to deal with aggressive roosters. There are a few different ways to deal with this situation. But first you have to understand why a rooster gets aggressive.
Roosters are aggressive for only one reason and that is dominance. It is part of the pecking order. Now a rooster can just be mean in which case it would be best to just relinquish him to the soup pot. But a rooster who is aggressive is "one who charges or attacks only certain people when they come near". A mean rooster will attack anyone and everyone.
Say that you can go out and feed and water the chickens and never have a bit of problem with a certain rooster. As soon as your husband or wife steps into the pen the rooster starts dancing and charging and maybe even going as far as to spur and flog this person. This is being aggressive. And a full size rooster with spurs can do some serious damage. What causes him to act this way and what can you do about it?
Every flock has a hierarchy with the rooster generally being at the top followed by the lead hen and so on down the line. In a flock with multiple roosters there is still a lead rooster. This is called the pecking order. Pecking orders have a tendency to be challenged about every three months or whenever a new bird, young or old, hen or rooster, is introduced into the flock. Pecking order is established by a series of small battles amongst the birds until one bird is dominant over the rest. And it is not always the largest bird that is at the top of the pecking order. In our free range flock, we currently have 5 large heavy breed roosters and 3 bantam roosters. It is one of our bantams that is the top of the pecking order. And if the little battles get out of hand then it is one of our heavy breed hens that steps in to break it up.
But back to the aggression issue. A hierarchy pecking order is what causes it, now what can be done to correct it? The easiest would be to just get rid of the rooster. But I know, he is your most prized breeding bird. You could butcher him, but again, he is your most prized bird. So that leaves correcting the problem. But how do you correct a flurry of feet and feathers coming at you? Boot him! The rooster is expressing his dominance over the human and will continue to do so until the human replaces him at the top of the pecking order. Many people, when faced with the thought of a rooster coming at them with malice intent, will pick up the nearest long object and swing at the rooster. This only reinforces the dominance aspect over the human because the rooster can sense and see fear from the human. The rooster may learn to respect the stick but not the person holding it.
Roosters fight with their feet and therefore so must the human. A rooster sees us as just an oversize strange looking bird. For the person who the rooster is attacking I say this "Stand Your Ground". That's right. Even if you have to put rolls of Charmin in your pants, you need to stand your ground. One day when you are feeling confident, get up the nerve to show this bird that he is not the boss of you. Be mentally prepared before you enter the pen. Be as calm as possible knowing that this bird is going to come at you but you are no longer going to put up with it. Walk into the pen and face the rooster. Let him do his dancing and such. Just don't turn your back on him. The rooster will generally come at you much slower if you are facing him verses having your back to him. Let him come to you. Do not provoke the attack. As he gets close to you give him a good boot. Make sure he is close enough and that you connect with him. He will get up and shake himself off and wonder what just hit him. He may come at you again and do the same thing, give him a boot. It will take him longer and longer to come towards you as it starts to set in that you are establishing your dominance over him.
Once he decides to back down, then leave him be. Back your way out of the pen, always looking directly at him. The next day do the same thing until he backs down. Some roosters learn much quicker than others. Once you have established the head of the pecking order then you should be able to enter the pen without him attacking you. He may look at you crosswise but that is ok as long as there is no aggression.
It is much easier to establish dominance when they are still young cockerels but not impossible when they are older. In some of the more typically aggressive breeds, this establishment of pecking order may have to be repeated every few months. If it seems that the rooster is just not getting it, then you may have to resort to one of the other plans. Out of all the roosters that we have had here on the farm, we have only ever had to get rid of one rooster. We have roosters that don't like to be handled, which is fine, but we also have big heavy breed roosters that love to be held and cuddled. I don't ever want to have to worry about my wife going into any of the pens because of a rooster.
Many poultry raisers around the country are experiencing their hens going broody late this year and so the question has come up about raising late season chicks. In fact, here it is mid August and we ourselves have four hens with new chicks and three more setting on eggs. Here in the south we do not worry about chicks being hatched this late in the year as we normally do not see truly cold weather until sometime in January. But for you folks who live in more northern climates it becomes a question of timing.
Before moving to Florida I spent most of my years in Washington State in the foothills of the Cascades. We considered October 31st to be the mark for the onset of winter with seeing our first snow fall around that day. We let that day dictate all our decisions and our change of focus. The firewood had to be cut, split, stacked and dried. All the equipment had to be winterized and covered. Our pantry had to be filled with goods to help carry us through the worst of the winter storms. And any new chicks had to be fully feathered and healthy.
Most chicks will be fully feathered at six weeks of age. At this point they can handle much colder temperatures than the younger chicks. By this time they should be on their own with the mother hen working hard to separate herself from her brood. So the main question is how late is too late for hatching new chicks? The answer is how well are you prepared?
If you have a hen that wants to go broody late in the year and she has a cozy nest built away from the elements, then she will be able to adequately care for the chicks for the first couple of weeks until they are too big to hide under her. If you have a well built hen house that can keep your birds clean, dry and draft free then you have a better chance with survival of the chicks. If you are fortunate enough to be able to separate the hen and her chicks into their own area then you could supply a heat lamp of some sort for them for any really cold nights. Most chicks at six weeks of age can easily handle temperatures down into the low 30's as long as they are out of any drafts. Below that and they will need an alternate heat source. If you get caught with a hen that still has young chicks when the weather suddenly turns cold, then you will need to get her separated along with her chicks into a protected area and provide extra heat for them.
Here in the south, we are not beyond seeing temperatures dip into the low teens. Yet we still hatch chicks beginning in November and continue hatching right through till mid summer. Most of our chicks are hatched in small incubators in the house. Once hatched, they go into brooder cages that are indoors in a fairly climate controlled area. We have found that we can get by using 80 watt red flood lights as their heat source. These are much safer to use than the big 250 watt heat lamps and also do not use as much electricity. At three weeks of age, the chicks are transitioned to a small outdoor pen that is fitted with a brooder box that has a low front opening so the chicks can come and go as they please. Inside the box it is fitted with a double flood light fixture that houses two 80 watt flood lights. Normally we only have to have one light on but we have the option of turning on both lights if it is going to be really cold. This set up keeps the chicks plenty warm even if the temperature drops into the teens.
Once the chicks reach about five weeks of age they are transitioned into an even larger pen that is tucked away into a corner to keep out most of the drafts. In this pen we simply have lights that hang from the roof that can be raised or lowered given the age of the chicks. We also use 80 watt flood lights in these fixtures. Once the chicks are fully feathered, which is at about six weeks of age, we then start limiting the use of the lights. They go off during the day and only on at night if the temperature is going to be in the low 30's. At about eight weeks of age, the chicks are transitioned into the main flock where they learn to roost with all the other chickens. At this point their body heat keeps them warm enough.
Each persons situation will be different but as long as you can provide draft free shelter along with a safe heat source then you should be able to enjoy late season chicks.
We actually prefer raising late season chicks. This gives us the jump on egg production for the next year. Consider this, if you get your chicks from a hatchery say in early March, they will be growing for 22 weeks before they start to lay. This puts you into mid September before you see your first egg. At this point we are already starting to see shorter days and winter is just around the corner. Chickens require a minimum of 14 hours of light to lay at their best. Many breeds will quit laying in the winter simply because of the lack of light and also the cold. So now that you have waited and fed these chickens all summer, just as they start to lay, they are now thrown into the cold dark days of winter. So now you have to continue to wait for another five to six months for Spring to arrive before they go into full egg production. If you have breeds that like to go broody then you have the chance of a hen or two or more wanting to set on eggs which will stop her egg production for another 9 to 12 weeks. So in theory, you could be raising a hen for 13 months before you ever see any real egg production out of her.
By raising late season chicks you are using the off time for growth so that come Spring you see egg production. Say you hatch chicks in August. At point of lay, which is about 22 weeks you are now in mid February. The first few weeks are sporadic for laying anyways so come March your hens are starting into their full egg laying capacity. Break any broody hens as they arise and you have full egg production six to nine months earlier than those who get their chicks in the Spring. Yes it takes a bit more work in the Winter months but what else were you going to do? And what little bit of extra electricity you use is easily offset by the extra feed you would have gone through. So next time you start thinking chicks, think about raising some late season chicks.
Common Poultry Abbreviations
Here is a list of common abbreviations used in relation to poultry
Common Poultry Abbreviations
ABA=American Bantam Association
ACV=Apple Cider Vinegar
APA=American Poultry Association
BA=Black Australorp
BB=Buff Brahma
BBB=Buff Brahma Bantam
BBR=Black Breasted Red
B/B/S=Blue/Black/Splash
BCM=Black Copper Maran
BF=Bantam Fowl
BLR=Blue Laced Red
BLRW=Blue Laced Red Wyandotte
BO=Buff Orpington
BOSS=Black Oil Sunflower Seed
BR=Barred Rock
BR=Bourbon Red
BSL=Black Sex Link
BTB=Black Tailed Buff (usually Japanese bantams)
BTW=Black Tailed white (usually Japanese bantams)
CBOF=Cantankerous Bag Of Feathers
CM=Cuckoo Maran
DB=Dark Brahma
DE=Diatomaceous Earth
EE=Easter Egger
GDW=Golden Duck Wing
GLW=Golden Laced Wyandotte
GPH=Gold Penciled Hamburg
GSL=Golden Sex Link
JBG=Jersey Black Giant
JG=Jersey Giant
LB=Light Brahma
LF=Large Fowl
MG=Modern Game
MGB=Modern Game Bantam
Mutt=Mixed Breed Chicken
NH=New Hampshire
NSQ=Non Show Quality
OEG=Old English Game (usually standards)
OEGB=Old English Game Bantam
POL=Point Of Lay
PQ=Pet Quality
PR=Partridge Rock
RIR=Rhode Island Red
RSL=Red Sex Link
SDW=Silver Duck Wing
SLW=Silver Laced Wyandotte
SOP=Standard Of Perfection
SQ=Show Quality
WCP=White Crested Polish
