Why are chickens so mean to each other????

I am trying to intergrate my 2 15 week old pullets with my 3 5 week old babies. I have been putting the 5 week old girls in the run while my 2 15 week olds free range...The big girls go over once in a while but not much...when i take the babies out of the run at night to put them back into my garage..i carry the babies over to the big girls for them to get a closer look..and they r nasty..hard pecking them..making all kinds of sounds letting us know that they are not happy...CAN'T THEY ALL JUST GET ALONG..Will they ever??? Any suggestions???

..brutal , isn't it . today i just added a new delaware hen to my group of 4--i felt i did the right thing--put her in a wire cage next to the run for about 4 hrs , and just before dusk i put her in the main run---they beat the living snot out of her--i'am no sap , but i felt soooo sorry for her --she is such a gentle bird and it seemed like she was crying for me to help her ....but we do have to let nature take it's course----we just don't have to like it--

Yeah, they can be brutal. I am adopting the all in all out rule from now on because I don't want to go through the integration anymore. I have been very fortunate, none of mine have inflicted any damage to my new guys, but if they didn't have room to run from the bigger ones, I'm sure I would be singing a very different tune. i have integrated into my original flock three times, the first two went pretty easy, but they were very young and had been kept in a brooder with tons of chicks in it. I got them home, put them together in the same brooder, but seperated by see through mesh for a couple of days. When I removed the mesh, there was no problems at all, other than the ordinary pecking order stuff. I recently picked up three more of the breeds I couldn't find when I first started my flock, and they were quite a bit younger. I tried the same tactic, left them segregated but able to see and hear each other for well over a month. The first two days of integration were terrible!!! They have settled down now, but i was thinking I was going to have to resegregate them.

Quote:
...do you think color of the birds might have something to do with it ???----my four origional birds of a darker color 1ss ,2 slw ,1 rir--the new addition dela is a delaware...

I don't think it has as much to do with color as it does size. I wanted a mixed flock, so I had to purchase them as the breeds I wanted were available. My original 4 were BO. A few days later I added 2 BA. About 3 weeks later, I added 2 PBR and 2 RIR. A couple of months later, I added 2 SLW's and an Ameraucauna. I have two coops, so I put the little guys in the small coop and constructed a wire fence to contain them. I kept them segregated for well over a month because I wanted them to grow to be close to the same size before I integrated them. I think it has more to do with age/size and interrupting the established social order. When they were chicks and I added new birds, the pecking order was still being determined so nothing was really interrupted. Now, several months later, I add new birds, and the lowest on the pecking order are excited to finally have someone to pick on, so they do. I have not seen the boss hen pay any attention to the newcomers, it is the lower ranking birds. I guess it's like hazing in boot camp and fraternities.

It's the pecking order. It can be awful. I usually don't have a problem with my birds getting a long. If I'm bringing in a new bird(s) I leave them in a wire cage inside the coop over night so none of the other hens can hurt her. I might even leave her there for a day or two just to make sure. Then, when the hens don't seem interested anymore I will let her out. I do have a big coop to do this in. It seems to work well. I also put a stick through the bars so the hen has something to perch on.

Yeh, it can get nasty, but ever notice how people pick on each other. Now a hen needs a few square feet of coop... I figure I need bout a hundred acres free range at least 6 to 8 hours a day before I don't feel picked on or feel the need to pick at anyone else.

..poor dela my delaware -- the other 4 birds were tearing hell out of her---i went in and she put her head against my shoulder and started purring like she was crying ,and asking for help i was reaally ticked off--------yaeah i know ,that the way things are in chicken world--but i was about to change that----today i went down to this farmer near me--explained the situstion to him--he gave me this nice leghorn chicken--this will solve the problem , it sorta looks like the delware --well --off i went home---i just put this smaller leghorn in the pen---she imediately moved to the back knorner to be by herself---shure-nuff here comes the welcoming comitte---suzy had her hackles up and gracie bit into her back feathers---then all hell broke loose this smaller leghorn tore into the other four birds and gave them a good case of the woop-ass-------all 4 ran into the coop--suzy squaking like what the heck did you put in here with us---the other 3 were peeking out the coop door , she went over by dela and sorta hung arround by her most of the day....---tonite i put dela in the coop by hand ,, there was a bit of chatter---the leghorn dosent have a coop at the farm---just the barn---i put her in and all went quiet...so far-- problem solved.....

I've always put newbies in the coop at night when everybody's sleeping and in the morning they act like the newbie has always been there

We just put 3 5-week-olds in with our 4 20-week-olds. I made sure for the first few days that when the littles were free-ranging, the big ones were in the run and vice versa. I only let them mingle when I was out there to supervise. I did let the big ones peck at the babies a bit but stepped in when it got too violent. I finally snuck the babies in the coop at night. The littles were terrified of the older pullets, but now the older ones just ignore them for the most part with a peck here and there if they are getting too close. I also make sure the younger ones have their own food/water source. There seems to be a truce now. Good luck!