New Hen Attitude Problems!

[HomesteaderWife]

Well, we just got a new Barred Rock hen to introduce to our flock. The rooster is very curious, but the new girl isn't having it. She tried to jump him and fight with him, so one of our other hens came over and in turn tried to jump her. She is now in a seperate little wire pen, but every time the rooster approaches to flirt with her, she jumps at the wire and raises her neck feathers, trying to peck him. He's being very sweet and trying to woo her with his one-wing dance, but she is not having it. Should I leave her in the little pen today and see what happens? Is this common when introducing a new hen for her to be so aggressive?

 

[LoveThemBirds]

Very common,and it probably will continue for the next week or so.

 

[HomesteaderWife]

Would it be acceptable to build a small box with an open bottom and wire sides, letting her stay in there for about a week? I let her out whip supervised, and she now just gets scared and flies up into my lap if the other chickens approach her.

 

[aart]

Adding a single bird to the flock is the hardest integration.
Yes, keep her separated by wire for a couple weeks...read up on integration.



Here's some notes I've taken on integration that I found to be very helpful.......
......take what applies or might help and ignore the rest.
See if any of them, or the links provided at the bottom, might offer some tips that will assist you in your situation:

Integration of new chickens into flock.

Consider medical quarantine:
BYC Medical Quarantine Article
Poultry Biosecurity
BYC 'medical quarantine' search

Confine new birds within sight but physically segregated from older/existing birds for several weeks, so they can see and get used to each other but not physically interact. Integrating new birds of equal size works best.

For smaller chicks I used a large wire dog crate right in the coop for the smallers. I removed the crate door and put up a piece of wire fencing over the opening and bent up one corner just enough for the smallers to fit thru but the biggers could not. Feed and water inside the crate for the smallers. Make sure the smallers know how to get in and out of the crate opening before exposing them to the olders. this worked out great for me, by the time the crate was too small for the them to roost in there(about 3 weeks), they had pretty much integrated themselves to the olders.

If you have too many smallers to fit in a crate you can partition off part of the coop with a wire wall and make the same openings for smallers escape.


The more space, the better. Birds will peck to establish dominance, the pecked bird needs space to get away. As long as there's no blood drawn and/or new bird is not trapped/pinned down, let them work it out. Every time you interfere or remove new birds, they'll have to start the pecking order thing all over again.

Multiple feed/water stations. Dominance issues are most often carried out over sustenance, more stations lessens the frequency of that issue.

Places for the new birds to hide out of line of sight and/or up and away from any bully birds.

In adjacent runs, spread scratch grains along the dividing mesh, best of mesh is just big enough for birds to stick their head thru, so they get used to eating together.

Another option, if possible, is to put all birds in a new coop and run, this takes the territoriality issues away.

Read up on integration..... BYC advanced search>titles only>integration
This is good place to start reading:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/adding-to-your-flock

 

[HomesteaderWife]

Well, we have her in a nice big dog crate inside the pen with the others. A lot of the conflict has stopped- but the rooster keeps being flirtatious with her. Everyone was standing around her eating this morning, calm and happy. We got our first egg from her this morning, which made things a lot better. I'll update how the week in her crate goes! She is allowed out to roam in the pen as long as she is supervised.

 

[donrae]

Myself, I'd just let her out. She and that rooster will need to figure things out eventually. He may have to work for it....look at things from her point of view. She doesn't know this guy, he comes over all lovey and "hey, baby, how you doing?"...how does she know he's worthy of her? Is she supposed to squat for any guy who drops a wing? maybe it's fine if he has to woo her a while. I doubt either of them will get hurt, and he may have to be more assertive with mating eventually. But you can't work it out for them, they have to do it.

 

[aart]

Myself, I'd just let her out. She and that rooster will need to figure things out eventually. He may have to work for it....look at things from her point of view. She doesn't know this guy, he comes over all lovey and "hey, baby, how you doing?"...how does she know he's worthy of her? Is she supposed to squat for any guy who drops a wing? maybe it's fine if he has to woo her a while. I doubt either of them will get hurt, and he may have to be more assertive with mating eventually. But you can't work it out for them, they have to do it.

I think there are other birds involved too.

 

[the poppster]

Well, we have her in a nice big dog crate inside the pen with the others. A lot of the conflict has stopped- but the rooster keeps being flirtatious with her. Everyone was standing around her eating this morning, calm and happy. We got our first egg from her this morning, which made things a lot better. I'll update how the week in her crate goes! She is allowed out to roam in the pen as long as she is supervised.

Every one has their own way to integrate new birds...so far this spring and summer...I have successfully integrated at least four new batches of youngsters to my flock....without any bloodshed or major bullying....by pretty much the way you are doing it now...so for what it's worth...I would keep the new hen isolated in her dog crate...till it seems as if no one is really paying attention to her...then open the door and let her out...or as I did with the last batch of youngsters....I caught then in the dark...put them (all 6 of them) in a grain sack and let them go inside the coop, in the dark, about an hour before daylight....they were a little discombobulated....and weren't to sure about where they were...kind of milled around inside for a while...I gave them and the birds in the run, a bit of scratch to pre-occupy them...and by the end of the day they were going in and out without much fuss...oh they cried a bit for a while...but things settled down pretty quickly...and my hens just kept on laying...no great stress caused....My neighbors added 4 new hens to their flock, Cold Turkey...and their hens quit laying for a week or more. Good luck!

 

[HomesteaderWife]

Myself, I'd just let her out. She and that rooster will need to figure things out eventually. He may have to work for it....look at things from her point of view. She doesn't know this guy, he comes over all lovey and "hey, baby, how you doing?"...how does she know he's worthy of her? Is she supposed to squat for any guy who drops a wing? maybe it's fine if he has to woo her a while. I doubt either of them will get hurt, and he may have to be more assertive with mating eventually. But you can't work it out for them, they have to do it.

Baha, I love this reply! He is very assertive currently, which is what scares her into chasing me around the pen and hopping in my lap! My husband compares her to a little puppy, trailing behind you and wanting you to hug and love on her. I just hope this week of being in the crate helps her calm down and be more used to the rooster. And I am being sure to not spoil her too much, helping her be more independent and not so afraid,

 

[HomesteaderWife]

I think there are other birds involved too.

Yes, we have 3 other hens and 2 ducks. The ducks are perfectly fine, as are two of the hens. Only one hen really establishes her "pecking order" by literally pecking the new hen on the head and walking off.