A chicken that hates chickens!?!?

[MrsCSki]

Will they eventually get used to each other and be nice/coexist?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

They will as long as there's enough room for everyone. The more room the better. I see zero aggression because my birds have all the room they need. New chicks are barely noticed. Keep them busy too. Tired chickens are calm chickens.

 

[biophiliac]

Tired chickens are calm chickens.

so right! and a tired puppy is a good puppy!

 

[MrsCSki]

Well, this is a tough one for me. I have a pretty small coop. I do have three nesting boxes though, and just put one up as a loft so they can nest away from each other. Two of them seem to not know how to roost. I'm not sure if the new grill I have knows how or not. I'm pretty new to all of this, will they continue to pick on each other all night long or are they all pretty docile at night?

 

[MrsCSki]

Here's my set up, I do let them free range in the yard for at least three hours or more every day. And I've fenved off the side of the yard where their coop is so they can get out and around it and have a little more room throughout the day. I just got a new grill today, the black autrolop and she's being picked on pretty bad. I've blocked her and the kids and have the other two right outside of it in the fenced off area. I've poured some of their food on the edge of the coop so that all have to eat with their heads pretty close together and I also have two extra water sources for them so no one is competing at the moment.

 

[MrsCSki]

Holy typo batsman! I got a new girl* today (not grill). I've locked her in the coop* and have the other two right out side in the fenced area. Sorry, Siri and I are fighting today.

 

[azygous]

Behavior is determined by breed and individual temperament. It's also influenced by flock dynamics. I would opine it may be as complex as human behavior, although in different ways of course.

A lone chick will be instinctively craving to belong to a flock, while at the same time being intimidated by the very same flock she craves to be part of. Chickens are influenced by their individual temperament to be timid or assertive or somewhere in between, and that influences how quickly they assimilate into the flock.

I like to take things slowly, watching to see if I can determine what kind of temperament the individual has that I'm integrating, and I move things along at a pace to preserve her self confidence. If you simply toss an individual into the flock and she happens to be timid, the flock picks up on that and the timid one then may become a chronic victim. We want to avoid that.

 

[MizLizArbuckle]

Wanted to give everyone a quick update on our chicken that hates chickens lol. We took all your great advice on how to help our poor chicken make friends with our flock. She did great for about a week or so after we finally integrated them. She was separated by her own enclosure for a few weeks before that but able to see the flock. Anyways the same behavior started from her and it set the whole flock off. It was heart breaking but we did find a nice home for her where they have acres of land and completely free range chickens. We recently heard from them and said she's doing great with them. That's all we could ask for. So again thank you for all the great advice!