My four new chickens are being bullied !!

[Pork Pie]

I divided my roosting poles with sacking to stop the older hens bullying the younger ones and it seems to work. The young chicks that i let out with their mother at 2 weeks are fully integrated and roost near the older hens. The ones that i integrated at 7 weeks prefer to be together and that is my fault for not integrating them earlier. My hens free range in the garden so the smaller ones can easily avoid some of less pleasant adult hens. I also have two watering and feeding stations (not in sight of each other) and that seems to give all of the chickens a fair crack of the whip when it comes to feeding.

 

[shortgrass]

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

It's a common problem I've seen with measuring sq ft per bird... The 2' sq ft per bird would be if you are raising something like a flock of meat birds in a huge barn. They don't need space but to just sit and eat.

3-5 sq ft for laying hens that need space and freedom or they'll peck and fight and... Well, bully.

I also usually put a divider of sorts in the coop for newbies... I have a piece of hardware cloth cut to fit directly under the poop deck on the roost. It has 2 little access door, cut small chick size, so the younguns can run in there and hide from the old biddies.. They get their feed and water in there too. Then as soon as I see that they are all getting along, and the younguns have bigger bodies, I remove the panel and they have at it.... Usually I integrate chicks en masse lol, the more chicks to confuse them with

Space is going to become an issue with winter approaching... I would seriously consider adding a second coop if possible... Maybe just a small A frame would suffice... They will start some very nasty picking if they get too cramped in there, which might be what's happening already