Introduced new chickens last night

[thedude14]

I snuck these two black copper maran pullets around 8 weeks old into the coop last night with the older two chickens around 16 weeks old. There was a lot of squawking but they settled down shortly after. Today they are segregated. Older two are together on one side of the yard and younger two are together not really leaving the corner of the other side of the yard. When they are around each other the older ones peck and chase them into a corner I am wondering if I should have them separated for a bit or will everything become normal soon. Can the oldest actually kill the younger ones?

 

[thedude14]

here's the older two

 

[aart]

Well, that's one way to do it....and yes, the older birds can kill the younger birds.

Read up on integration.

 

[bobbi-j]

I snuck these two black copper maran pullets around 8 weeks old into the coop last night with the older two chickens around 16 weeks old. There was a lot of squawking but they settled down shortly after. Today they are segregated. Older two are together on one side of the yard and younger two are together not really leaving the corner of the other side of the yard. When they are around each other the older ones peck and chase them into a corner I am wondering if I should have them separated for a bit or will everything become normal soon. Can the oldest actually kill the younger ones?

What they're doing is establishing their pecking order. If you separate them, they'll just do it all over again when you reintegrate them. How bad is the pecking? Have the older ones drawn blood? If so, then you probably should separate them until they are all similar in size. The older ones can kill the younger, but that doesn't mean that it's going to happen for sure. That's the thing about dealing with living animals. You just never know what they're going to do. I'd suggest putting in an extra feeder and waterer, though, if the older birds are keeping the younger ones trapped in one place. Another thing that would help is to provide some hiding places for the younger birds.

 

[thedude14]

Hey thanks for responding, no they haven't drawn blood and in fact they have been getting more and more comfortable as the days go on. The new girls are exploring the whole yard now and rest close to the older two throughout the day. They still peck them once in awhile to let them know who's boss. I built the new two a separate roost in the coop but it's really funny now because they now roost on the big girls bar and force the older ones onto the new roost for some reason. Made me laugh first night I saw it.

 

[amltroia]

I was wondering: about how long did it take for the old birds to accept the new girls?

I got my first four about 2 months ago, now they are about 17 weeks olds, and we noticed one of them is a roo, so we went and got another hen from the same person we got the first ones from, so they are all the same age, similar sizes. I've had my new girl for four days, and man is it tough to watch her be lonely! The other girls don't seem to mind her when they are busy/distracted, but if she does something noticeable, then one or two of them will chase her and peck at her a bit. No lost feathers or blood yet, and she's braving up a bit to at least come down from her hiding spot in the coop to get food and water. She has flown out of the run twice now (despite clipped wings!), and now she is really wanting to be "out," I assume because she gets to be unbothered. I haven't started free-ranging them yet, as I read it's better to wait until they start a good laying habit. Maybe I should just start letting them all out? Then everyone would have their space.

I'm just hoping it won't take too long for her to get her place in the flock, poor thing.

 

[thedude14]

Hey I'd say it took about two weeks for them to get comfortable with the older birds. They are fine now and only peck at each other if there is a limited amount of food that is on the ground. I've been free ranging the chickens since they've been old enough to live in the coop outside. I never heard it's best to wait until they are laying. I imagine they would be happiest free ranging all day no matter if they are laying or not. I have four chickens two that lay everyday and two that Are younger but should be laying really soon