My four new chickens are being bullied !!

Hi everyone .. I have a flock of 25 red stars or red sex links that I got back at the beginning of June as ready to lays .. And we hand raised 4 Rhode island reds from chicks in the house and shed .. We have just integrated them together .. They have met a few times but the babies are now about 16-17 weeks old and have been with the other 25 since Sunday night. There is no blood shed but they are getting terrorized .. Chased .. Pulling on feathers and generally look stressed all the time .. They have a 8x12 coop with a 16x16 ft run attached to it. But they don't leave the coop and I am pretty sure that they are being bullied from being allowed to eat or drink out of the hens waterer or feeder.. So I added two more In the cool and a big bucket in their run .. Yesterday and this morning I blocked all the older birds outside so they could eat and drink .. But the four younger ones look like they are panting and on the run everytime I check on them or they are trying to hide in a nesting box behind a hen that is trying to lay .. We are first time chicken owners .. Is this all normal ?? They are my babies and I feel so bad for them

i have never dealt with this but i would suggest separating them. Good luck!

-mpchick

I have thought of that too.. but I just put them together .....and have nowhere else to separate them too ..They are too big for where they were living before and the coop with all the other ladies is going to be their long term home... We started with 21 in june and a few weeks later introduced 4 new ones and it was not quite this bad... so I guess I was expecting the introduction to go a little easier and a little surprised at how mean they the older girls can be... ugh....

it's normal - chickens do have a pecking order, and your older ones are showing the younger ones where their place is. I am concerned about the amount of space you have for your chickens. Is there any chance you can let them free range for even a couple of hours a day? Over crowding can cause a lot of problems including excessive bullying, feather picking and even cannibalism.

We have talked about letting them free range but there is a lot of wooded area on our 9 acres .. And they are kinda in on the outskirts of it .. Lots of coyotes .. Fox and Hawks are the big problem .. Their run is fenced in on top too .. When I did all my research and talked to our neighbours that have chickens I was told 4 square ft per chicken .., ours have approx 13 sq feet each .. Is that not enough ??

Hi there,
Is it possible to put a temporary enclosure within the coop, in the outside area. That's what we did......the little ones can then eat and drink stress free, and the older girls see them. I would let them out in the PM, when the days eating was done, less competition for food etc.
I do free range for a couple of hours in the late afternoon, the older girls go out, and whoever is transitioning is allowed to explore the rest of the coop and free range on their comfort level. Once I see that there is acceptance from the older girls, then the little ones get put in at night with the others and transition is complete.....longer process but it works for me.
And yes we live on the edge of the woods.....

hau country haven, actually you have:

Your coop = 8' x 12' = 96 Sq. Ft. divide by 4 = 24(birds)

Your run = 16' x 16' = 256 Sq. Ft. this is for day time outside living not part of the number of birds calculation. But if you did use this for run math it would equate to 25.6 birds or 26 birds but this is day time run space not sleeping space, and it is sleeping space you should use to calculate the number of birds you can safely house (including roosters).

You should always use the smallest space for chicken math not the combination of all spaces, unless you plan on some birds never going into the coop at night time.

I think the big issue is not enough time for the older birds to become accustomed to the new, younger birds. This creates a situation where the pecking order establishment can get out of hand. The older birds are not used to seeing the younger ones and thus they take every opportunity to show the whippersnappers just where their place in the order is, at the bottom of the barrel and end of the beak.

As has been suggested, a temporary separation fence will go a long way with letting everything become normal. The older birds will be able to see the youngsters and vice versa all while no true contact is possible. This will help the older birds get used to the new additions to the flock before actual introduction to the same space. Then the pecking order will be established in short order and everyone will know their place and all will be happier and mostly stress free.

Even one way fences or very low pallets on a single layer of cement blocks. Technically, a full grown hen can get under there, but she is seriously cramped. I fed my chicks there.

I am wondering what your run looks like. Is there roosts in the run? Is there hideouts in the run? When a younger bird is being chased by an older bird, she is suppose to run away. In a run, she can NOT get away, so the older bird thinks she is still challenging the order, and must continue to chase the younger birds. If you put some places where a bird can run and get out of sight of the older birds, they will quit chasing them.

Feed the younger birds in the hide outs, out of sight of the older birds, and have water there too. Then the younger ones can get brave, go out and take on the older ones, and then escape when it gets to be too much, with in a week, they should all settle down.

The above poster is right, you have too many birds for the set up going into winter. Go and measure your roosting space, keeping roosts well away from the ceiling or walls.

A peaceful flock is the healthiest, best behaved, most enjoyable flock. To get a peaceful flock, you may need to cull birds. Over crowding birds can lead to horrible habits.

Mrs K

Wow lots of great info...well I'm not really sure what to do about space .. I was told 2sq feet per chicken of indoor space per chicken was adequate since they only really sleep in there and have access to outside 24/7 .. We were only suppose to have 25 in total with the babies but I acquired 4 whose fates were unknown just a few weeks after we built the coop .. The coop is 8x12 and is probably 10 feet high inside .. Roosts .. They use the rafters .. 12 nesting boxes a skid I made into more perches .. Outside the run is 6 1/2 feet high and approx 16x16 with two tires filled with dirt for dirt baths and food , water .. They get veggies and fruit everyday in he run ..no roosts outside though but I was going to put in a few swings or roosts that hang from the ceiling .. Just worried the structure is pretty permanent and not possible to add extra space too at all .. I will add some extra cubbies and things to the run tomorrow so there are some hiding areas and hopefully it helps .. Chickens will have full access to outside in the winter too all our neighbours chickens do too .. Thanks everyone for the insight !!! Will keep you posted on how it is going

Do you get lots of storms or snow? Is your run covered? There will be days your chickens will need to stay inside and your coop might seem pretty small after a while.