The flock is Integrated…I thought

Even though we were letting everyone hang out in the run during the day, it was time for the next big move…co-habitation. I was tired of chasing the little ones to separate them at night.

First, we put up some temporary fencing to make a more enclosed run. The big girls still flew over occasionally, but it was easier to put one back then chase them all. However, I knew the big open space wasn’t helping the situation because the chickens were all still going their own ways.

When I found out my husband was about to start a crazy job with lots of overtime, I knew it was time to put the baby chicks in the coop for the night.

The magic number is 4

The first night, we closed up the coop with everyone inside at dusk. There was a bit of chasing going on at first. After dark, we had to go in and pick the baby chicks up and place them on the ladder to go into the coop. They didn’t run as much as the big girls had when they were learning, but of course they were just out of reach. Night two and three my daughter helped me since she fits in the coop better.

Night 4…magic. Everyone went up to bed at dark and no crawling around! I was so proud of myself. I went out early the next morning and everyone was just fine.

The little chicks were still scared of the big girls, but they were living together right?

Two days later….

Do you know why they call it a “pecking order”? Chickens will literally peck each other to show their seniority. Sometimes it gets nasty…are you ready for an emergency?

I wasn’t!

I went to check on the chickens before going out for a few hours and I found poor Crispy with a major wound. I panicked and my first thought was she needed to go to the vet! Unfortunately, we were on our way to an appointment we could not miss so I separated the babies again and raced to our appointment. I was able to Google injuries and realized I made my first mistake.

Chickens are attracted to the color RED and will peck injuries. I worried endlessly until I could get back home. I was relieved that the girls were safe and didn’t do more damage to Crispy. I put the other girls back in run and we rushed to Tractor Supply.

I had heard of Vetericyn, but didn’t have any at home. The great associate said to keep her isolated and use this spray several times a day. He also suggested once she started to heal, we could spray her with Blu-Kote to turn her red spot blue. However, we could never eat her afterwards (which we would NEVER do anyways but sounded a bit scary). The next day, Dixie was found with a small wound and I trusted my gut that she would be safe with Crispy…and she was.

After about 5 days, I put the two hurt girls in the run supervised and they were just fine. They still kept their distance and made a little hiding spot under a tarp.

Lessons learned

Pecking order is real and even if the chickens seem fine in open space be careful when confined together.
Be prepared. Hope you will never need it but keep first aid supplies ready before you need them.
Have a space to put hurt birds to recover

Hopefully the worst is over. I’ve learned chickens are tough! Now we just need to survive…Winter!