Chicken Peeps: Help a Gal out

[2DogsFarm]

TSC had late season chicks
I’m sure you know where this is headed…
To give me a decent excuse, my “flock” was down to 2 hens:
Easter Egger who hadn’t laid in months
Cochin who goes broody about every 3 weeks & last laid maybe 3 weeks ago
Also the 6-7yo Barred Rock rooster.
& All are starting to moult.

I’ve increased the numbers by 4.
2 Ameraucanas
2 Sapphire Sky
Around 5wks, I made the TSC guy catch ones with primaries started
Set them up as best I could in a separate section of the coop.
Hens & roo seemed uninterested in the peeping newbs.
All 4 found the water & feed

About that separation…
I’ve now found all 4 in the larger part of the coop.
Twice yesterday & again this morning
Big birds again, not interested.
So…
Do I just leave them loose?
I jury-rigged the divider so the chicks can get in where chick feed & water is not accessible by the big ones.

By the time it gets chilly they’ll be fully feathered & in a couple/three weeks big enough to mingle.

Remind me why I thought this would be a good idea

[Jackie_amp_Starlette]

Been there done that

If they are not being attacked they will probably be fine but no promises.

However, they can be easily killed by other predators. My cats, who ignore juv & adult chickens, love chick nuggets. And they would be easy to pick off by hawks.

Enjoy them! I am looking at adding to my flock in the spring…my youngest is 4 years old and this year the egg laying it taking a hit.

[2DogsFarm]

Thanks
I stopped freeranging several years ago, after losing 2 hens to hawks in a week.
& no outdoor cats of my own.
Passerby cats seem to only go to the barn.
Never saw one near the coop.
The fenced henyard attached to the coop is big enough & shaded by trees - one inside the fence.
At one time I had 7 in there & all were happy.
I crisscrossed the open part at the top with baling twine after reading hawks see this as a solid barrier. After many years, so far, so good, no hen taken from above in the yard.

I guess I’ll just see how the little Houdini chicks fare.
I’m in the coop at least 3X daily.
Morning, afternoon & dusk to lock coop off from the yard.

[AwiUsdi]

@2DogsFarm

Remind me why I thought this would be a good idea

Chicken math

ETA:

I have 23 chickens. I absolutely don’t need 23 chickens. But, chicken math 🫤

I agree with Jackie’s assessment

[2DogsFarm]

UPDATE:
I blocked where I thought the chicks were getting out & SUCCESS!
They were in their section around 3 & still there when I shut the coop at 7.
Eating & drinking, active & peeping up a storm
Hens & rooster still uninterested.

The heatwave we’re having - now 82, feels like 85 - isn’t as horrendous as I feared, a mere 52% humidity.
Tomorrow & Tuesday are supposed to be worse, then we cool down to mid-80s.

[Jackie_amp_Starlette]

Good!

Our weather (this is Michigan folks!!!) for the next few days sucks.

.

I moved to Michigan from New Jersey to get away from it! Climate change, ugh!

[2DogsFarm]

Pretty much the same forecast here in NW IN
But humidity is staying below 80% & that helps some.

Chicks were still captive this morning, coop not too hot.
I even left a light on - 60w bulb by the door farthest from their mini-coop - so they’re not in the dark.
Hens & rooster still not giving a fig.

[Mosey_2003]

I would just change the main feeder to chick grower and keep an extra feeder and leave them loose. It’s better for the layers to get more protein during the heat wave anyway, just set out some oyster shell in a pan or little bucket.

[moonlitoaksranch]

Watch those babies! My flock went from peaceful to velociraptor in one night. They destroyed a baby in the pre dawn hours one morning. They did not seem interested and then they just cornered her and killed her. I did the slow introduction. She was old enough to not peep anymore. It was horrible. Chickens are notorious if they’re locked up together. I’ve had much less trouble since I free range them in the yard during the day.

[Mosey_2003]

I went back to read the first post, I was thinking it said 5 months, not 5 weeks I do agree with keeping them locked up for quite awhile longer. I never even thought about ones so small being out in the coop, oops.

[2DogsFarm]

I’m going to keep them segregated until they’re fully feathered.
My first flock was 6wks when I got them & big enough so I’d not worry having them loose with the big girls (& boy).
& I’ll keep an opening too small for the big ones leading to the separate part of the coop, so the young ones can get back to safety.
Intros won’t be unsupervised until I’m damn sure there won’t be bloodshed.
@moonlitoaksranch 's tale of slaughter
But freeranging is probably not going to happen.
With such a small flock & so many hawks

I already supplement by making daily oatmeal for the chickens. With plain whole milk yogurt added. Served cold now, hot in Winter.
If I have eggshells they go in too.
I might try giving the chicks a bit of yogurt as a treat & probiotic-ish

[Mosey_2003]

Grinding and mixing my own, I’m a bit spoiled in that I can just alter the rations with ingredients when it’s hot or cold, lol. I can replace a pound of corn with a pound of soybeans to bump the protein up.

Yogurt can be good for chicks at certain intervals, surprisingly (to me) has been shown to aid resistance to coccidiosis. I had always staunchly believed chickens couldn’t process dairy, but have been won over in the last couple years.

[2DogsFarm]

Mine LOFF their yogurt.
I love seeing their milk moustache beaks

I might take a dish of yogurt out to the chicks now.
At 87 “feels like” 91 a cool.treat might be nice.
I’ll.put ice cubes in the chickens’ water too.