adding a single new pullet to the crew

[sourland]

Welcome to BYC. If they were mine, I would separate the rooster and the dominant hen from the flock for a week. This would allow the rest of the birds to form a cohesive social unit.

 

[gander007]

Alright

 

[mdelhomme]

These are really good replies, I'm going to get a fourth chicken today and was worried about integrating her. My Barred Rock even chases the little birds away from my patio. She's such a bossy thing, and she's the youngest of my three! Last year we kept her inside for a few months until we thought she would be big enough to take the pecking order. When we finally put her in the coop the other chickens pecked at her and excluded her, she never got to snuggle on the roost, was always at the end by herself. Now she's bigger and fatter than the other two (Black Sex Link and EE) and is usually snuggled up to one of them at night, and is the most people friendly, lets us pick her up easily. We're thinking of getting another EE, love the green eggs, but if I could find a Lavender Wyandotte I'd go for that.

Sorry for the ramble, this is the only place I really get to talk to chicken enthusiasts who "get it".

 

[nj2wv]

Welcome to BYC !!

 

[mdelhomme]

OK, so I went and got another EE that day and the poor thing still lives in a dog kennel in the house. She free ranges in the back yard with the big girls all day, mostly stays out of their way, Laura the boss chases her when she can. But at night Laura will not leave her alone. We took her outside to the coop for three nights in a row last week, after the big girls went to bed hoping they wouldn't notice. The first day I went out at 0530 in the AM to check things out and I thought she was dead! The bigs had her pinned down in a corner and she was flat on the ground with her head tucked under the edge of the feeder! I picked her up and loved all over her. The next night we brought bossy into the house and took baby out to the coop. Next morning she was being chased by second in command but wasn't flattened. I even hung an additional perch in the run so she would have somewhere to escape to. She won't get on it. Third night, same scenario.
We ended that little experiment quickly. Now I'm terrified. We leave on vacation next week and will be having a neighbor kid chickensit for us. I plan to build a new fence tomorrow to make a smaller free range area and take the baby's dog kennel outside so she will have shelter at night but will be forced into a smaller run with the bullies, I'm hoping closer proximity will help get everyone used to each other. Last night I was holding the baby outside and Laura walked right up and bit me on the leg. I can only assume it was an attempt to bully me because I had the baby. So naturally, I retaliated by getting the fly swatter and chasing her around the yard. (Glad there aren't any surveillance cameras, I probably looked really stupid, and I didn't catch her).
I'm having chicken nightmares. Any advice welcomed.