•2 min read•from Raising Chickens or Other Poultry for Eggs, Meat, or as Pets
2mo chicks don't follow older hens into the coop
Our take
Merging two-month-old chicks with older hens can be a delightful yet challenging adventure! While your feathered friends are enjoying their days together—eating, drinking, and snoozing side by side—dawn and dusk seem to bring a bit of drama. At dawn, the chicks are merely embracing their inner teenagers, opting to linger on the roosting bars for some extra shut-eye. However, dusk presents a more perplexing puzzle, as your young cluckers hesitate to head inside. After physically placing them on the roosting bars or gently nudging them through the doorway, you might be wondering if there’s a trick to encourage their nighttime routine. Fear not! As they continue to bond with their older counterparts, they may gradually figure it out on their own.
| | I just merged my 2mo chicks wiht the older hens after a few weeks of proximity and supervised mingling. Everything is going smoothly during the day; they all are eating and drinking without any fights. Everything is going smoothly at night, they all sleep alongside each other peacefully. However, at dawn and dusk, things are not so smooth. Dawn it's not too bad. The chicks just stay inside on the roosting bars for an extra couple hours. Maybe they're just classic teenagers needing to sleep in more. They eventually make it outside on their own. Dusk is a bigger issue. The chicks don't want to go inside. The first night I expected some issues and physically placed them onto the roosting bars after dark. The second (last night) I placed them at the doorway and one of them went inside while the others had to be shoved inside and blocked from exiting. They eventually jumped up onto roosting bars. Is there anything I should be doing to help with this, especially at dusk? Or will they just start doing the right thing as the flock continues to integrate? [link] [comments] |
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Tagged with
#2mo chicks#older hens#coop#roosting bars#mingling#flock integration#dawn#dusk#sleeping together#eating and drinking#supervised mingling#teenagers#issues#physical placement#shoved inside#blocked from exiting#extra couple hours#making it outside#helping with dusk#first night