10 week old olive egger hiding staying by itself

[SR021505]

I have 2 10 week old olive eggers. I've had them out with 4 3 year old girls since they were about 5 weeks old & in the coop at night with them since about 6 or 7 weeks. They were separated from the big girls in their own pen for a couple weeks just so everyone could get used to each other. About 2ish weeks ago I let them all be together without any separation. There was the expected bullying but it seemed to subside quickly & all seemed well with the occasional bullying when I would throw snacks down. The littles found where they could go to hide, etc & I would make sure they had snacks in that area. I noticed 2 or 3 days ago that they seem to be hiding more & that one of them really wants nothing to do with the bigger girls. She just finds a corner or goes under the coop & lays down. She does change places & seems to be eating at least a little bit. I did give her some egg yolk yesterday which she ate while sitting in my lap. She also picked at the scratch last night. I separated them back out this morning after watching 2 of the big girls pick on her first thing this morning. They are still with thy big girls but safe from bullying. She's kind of picking at food but not overly eager about it. Poops don't look off.
Is she just possibly traumatized a bit from the bullying or could something else possibly be going on? The other little one is acting normal... her usual skittish self who freaks out if I get too close lol.

I appreciate any thoughts on this.

 

[FunClucks]

You have two 10 wk old olive eggers. They are significantly smaller (I assume) than your 3 year old chickens. They will not become one flock with the big chickens until everyone is laying eggs. Until that time, you actually have two sub flocks - the babies and the hens. Spending most of the day hiding from the bigger chickens is normal for 10 wk old chicks. Roosting in a different area at night is also normal. Just make sure they have free access to food and water that the big chickens can't run them off from, and a safe area the big chickens can't get to.

I use run clutter to make a shielded area that is blocked off/ openings are too small for the larger hens to enter, but the little ones can, and then behind the grating, I provide their own food and water to the littles. Just keep an eye on them as they grow and enlarge the grating as needed. Also, I put plenty of things in the run to break up the sightline. Things they can hide behind where big hens can't see them will lead to a calmer flock. Height of run clutter objects should be just above the eye level of the hens or taller.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

I have 2 10 week old olive eggers. I've had them out with 4 3 year old girls since they were about 5 weeks old & in the coop at night with them since about 6 or 7 weeks. They were separated from the big girls in their own pen for a couple weeks just so everyone could get used to each other. About 2ish weeks ago I let them all be together without any separation. There was the expected bullying but it seemed to subside quickly & all seemed well with the occasional bullying when I would throw snacks down. The littles found where they could go to hide, etc & I would make sure they had snacks in that area. I noticed 2 or 3 days ago that they seem to be hiding more & that one of them really wants nothing to do with the bigger girls. She just finds a corner or goes under the coop & lays down. She does change places & seems to be eating at least a little bit. I did give her some egg yolk yesterday which she ate while sitting in my lap. She also picked at the scratch last night. I separated them back out this morning after watching 2 of the big girls pick on her first thing this morning. They are still with thy big girls but safe from bullying. She's kind of picking at food but not overly eager about it. Poops don't look off.
Is she just possibly traumatized a bit from the bullying or could something else possibly be going on? The other little one is acting normal... her usual skittish self who freaks out if I get too close lol.

I appreciate any thoughts on this.

Perhaps put the bullies in the Littles' spot, and let the Littles hang with the others. Sometimes that resets the pecking order. (I don't know, of course, if the Littles' area is big enough for adult hens.)