Introducing smaller chickens

[clktex]

So I searched and didn't find anything directly on point though there are some older threads with similar topics.

We started our first flock in our small in-town coop with 3 hens at about 4-5 weeks of age back in June. About 2 weeks ago we discovered that one of our girls was a boy. The breeder offered to exchange him, and on Sunday we picked up our new girl.

However, the new girl is only 6 weeks old, and the other two are around 20 weeks now. The original three got along extremely well, with only minor sporadic squabbles. Heck, the cockerel was the least aggressive of the three.

The new girl is very docile, doesn't have an issue with us handling her at all.

Anyway, the dynamics now are totally different. I waited until nearly dark to introduce her, and they wanted no part of her, chasing and pecking her viciously. I figured there would be some of this but I'm concerned that they're just too big for her to be able to deal with it.

I then waited until bedtime and added her to the roost. I thought that was going to go okay but by the next morning she was huddled in a concrete block in the run hiding from the others and had been pecked pretty good.

Yesterday I got a chicken "play pen" to create a separate area for the older ones and left the new one in the coop get used to her new home. However, when we brought them back together again around dusk the pecking renewed in earnest. Once again I tried to keep them separated until bedtime and then introduced her again to the roost. She got pecked off and ultimately spent the night huddled in one of the nest boxes.

Breeder thought maybe she needed another friend her size to even things out but I'm skeptical. Adding another bird to a relatively small coop and run (4x8 run with 3x4 coop) might create more problems.

I'm continuing to try to slowly get them used to each other but I'm really worried this little gal is going to get hurt or worse. Today she got the play pen and I plan on putting the big girls in there tomorrow; I don't really think putting up a fence within the run would be good because the space would be pretty limited; likewise there really aren't many good hiding places for the little one other than the nesting box (in which they could get to her) and the CBS block, and not enough room to create one.

I did put an extra waterer and feeder out so that hopefully they wouldn't have to fight over the main ones.

Suggestions?

 

[sourland]

Fact is big chickens pick on smaller chickens, and established birds pick on the newcomers. In my experience the whole 'put them on the roost in the dark and all will be fine' is an urban chicken myth. The pecking order can be brutal. I would not try to physically introduce her until she is big enough to hold her own. Your two present birds might very well kill her.

 

[clktex]

Fact is big chickens pick on smaller chickens, and established birds pick on the newcomers. In my experience the whole 'put them on the roost in the dark and all will be fine' is an urban chicken myth. The pecking order can be brutal. I would not try to physically introduce her until she is big enough to hold her own. Your two present birds might very well kill her.

That is my concern. I simply don't have the facility to keep her separate for another 6-10 weeks, so I've either got to get this resolved soon or take her back to the breeder.

 

[aart]

It's hard to manage a really small flock, no crowd to blend in with, and too few heads to spread the 'pecking love'. Another difficulty of tiny flocks is the coop and run is often very small, it's best to have extra and separate but adjacent space for integrating new birds.

Your coop/run is really only big enough for 3 birds,
so adding a 4th might just be yet more trouble.


You could try some chicken juggling with your 3 birds, the coop/run and the play pen.
Keep switching up who is with whom in which enclosure. Have you tried putting one of the birds in the playpen with the newbie?

 

[James Papin]

To be honest if you can't keep her separate from the others until she is their size, and I realize your other chickens will also continue to grow. Then I would take her back. I fear the others would torture her too much, not letting her eat and drink. I have added chickens of similar size. What the new chickens go through, and I followed the steps of adding new chickens, is brutal. But let me say you now would think they had all been raised together.

 

[lazy gardener]

IMO, in a set up this small, adding a new bird, especially a single new bird, and even worse yet, a single, smaller new bird is a recipe for disaster. When a top of pecking order bird gives the stink eye to a lower rung on the pecking order gal, what she's saying is: This is my space, my feed, my water, my friends. Get away from my stuff, or I'm gonna rip your face off. The youngster tries to comply. But, in chicken culture, the owner of the resources considers everything within a 10' radius to be HERS! So, b/c the youngster can't retreat far enough away, her behavior is considered to be a challenge, and she is then brutally attacked. Given this set up, if I did not have option to make it bigger, I'd leave my flock size at 2 and go with that.

 

[Hensndoes]

For what it's worth- I have to do the introduction dance 4 times. 5 if you count reintroducing the broody to her flock. The only reason I was able to do this without injury is I created space and gave it plenty of time. Weeks not days. There are a lot of threads on here with advice and I took it all. Let them have a see no touch area for weeks to get used to each other. Tossed out scratch for flock activities. Supervised free range time for a whole weekend. Then late night placement on the roost (except with the cockerel. I let him at the girls in the middle of the day during
freeranging).

What I've noticed- the less handled younger birds have a much easier time settling in. If you can't arrange these accommodations you will have a difficult time.

Side note: two weeks ago I drove a 15 week old cockerel to a friend that had a single lone hen for months after her flock got picked off. Put him in the huge run with her in the middle of the day and she jumped on him then proudly flaunted her mouthful of feathers. He had plenty of places to escape so I left him. Next day they were dustbathing together. Next day she puts 3 POL pullets in the coop at night. Next night he's leading the whole flock into the coop at night. Next day he's getting his groove on with silky. Roos are awesome.

 

[clktex]

I've got the little one out in the playpen again today within sight of the run so they can all see each other. She seemed to do a little better last night but really can't tell for sure. She was huddled in a corner of the run behind a CBS block when I got her this morning, but did not appear any worse for wear than yesterday (no visible injury). I may try to let them all free range this afternoon after work for a bit or maybe put one of the older ones in the playpen with her and have a spray bottle nearby in case she gets ornery.

I'm not optimistic this is going to work, though. Going to see if the breeder might have someone older he can give me to integrate more smoothly.

 

[Hensndoes]

I may try to let them all free range this afternoon after work for a bit or maybe put one of the older ones in the playpen with her and have a spray bottle nearby in case she gets ornery.

I'm not optimistic this is going to work, though. Going to see if the breeder might have someone older he can give me to integrate more smoothly.

Yea I don't know about that. Not much room to seek shelter in a playpen. An older chick isn't necessarily going to be any easier. They are still going to seek her out.