Right now, Elaine and I have three groups of heritage Rhode Island Red chickens. What we call the "Old Reds" are our Rooster Don and his three hens that are a little over two years old, the "Young Reds that are 16 months old with Al and his three hens, and the "Baby Reds" which live in the basement and consist of the hen Mary and her three chicks that are about a month old.
Soon, it will be time to move Mary and her little flock outside to one of the runs. However, we have heard that older chickens will sometimes kill the chicks of other hens. Mary used to be part of Al's flock, but she has been gone for a month, of course, and will not be greeted warmly, nor likely will her chicks.
We truly do not know what to do, but Mary and her chicks will soon be too big to stay in the basement enclosure, and they obviously need more outside time than what they have been receiving. We will have to come up with an idea soon.
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