ADVISE PLEASE!?

[Chicken-Man]

Okay, where to start...

Long long long story short:
3 hens, all sisters, 2 new girls come along (silkie and RIR bantam, waited a little longer than nessasary to put all birds n ne coop, after lots of pain (to me and 2 newbies) all are now living with each other.
BUT NOW! The silkie and RIR are HORRIFIED of the 3 others girls. RIR and silkie just stay in the coop 24/7 and wont go out into the run. They scream and run and go crazy if one of the tree other girls come near them (even just to eat or what not) and I DONT KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO!!!! I NEED them to all live together in peace and for all 5 girls to be able to run, eat, sleep ect with each other with out having a panic attack.

What can i do to get the RIR and silkie not to be so horrified of the other 3 girls??? Iv tryed everythng i can think of....

PLEASE!!!! ps starting new flock if NOT an option.

 

[drumstick diva]

Maybe they have every reason to be horrified. Have you observed them for a goodly amount of time to see if the new gals are being bullied away from food and water, or attacked if they come out of the coop?

What is the age difference between the two groups? It's best to wait until the newbies are about as large as the older birds. You can't just throw them together and hope they will play nicely. You need to either put up a wire temporary partition in run/coop so they can see each other but, not draw blood.

After a couple of weeks - they may be ready to integrate.

 

[Michael OShay]

Drumstick diva has made some good points. Also, you haven't said what kind of hens the original three are. They may be a very aggressive breed of some kind, and I have seen Silkies, which are small to begin with, pretty badly battered by some standard breeds.

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and

You can't just throw new birds into a flock. There is a pecking order that must be observed by each member and it is best the new birds learn this order slowly. So the new birds need to be kept in a cage or fenced off area but within the flock at all times for several weeks. Everybody sees nobody touches. After 3 or 4 weeks you can mix them all together. It should be fairly smooth. Watch them carefully that day and the rest of the week and always intervene if it turns bloody.

Put out several feed and water stations too so the new birds are not bullied away from eating and drinking. Make sure these new birds are the same size or close to the same size as the older hens. If these new birds are still very young, keep them separate, but in sight of the flock, until they are older. At least 3 or 4 months of age.

Enjoy all your adventures and welcome to our flock!

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.

x4, the best method is the "see but don't touch." Do this for as long as you can. (At least three weeks.)

 

[sourland]

Big, established flock members pick on smaller new birds - chicken society is not a pretty thing. It will take time, and the bantams will always be lower on the pecking order, but if they are not being physically harmed, they will learn to co exist.

 

[Chicken-Man]

Maybe they have every reason to be horrified. Have you observed them for a goodly amount of time to see if the new gals are being bullied away from food and water, or attacked if they come out of the coop?

What is the age difference between the two groups? It's best to wait until the newbies are about as large as the older birds. You can't just throw them together and hope they will play nicely. You need to either put up a wire temporary partition in run/coop so they can see each other but, not draw blood.

After a couple of weeks - they may be ready to integrate.

Yes They have been bullied. A fare amount it has really died down but they get the occasional harassment. But the older 3 (by a few months) barely pay attention to the RIR and silkie. So its pretty much just lots of fear now.

 

[Chicken-Man]

Drumstick diva has made some good points. Also, you haven't said what kind of hens the original three are. They may be a very aggressive breed of some kind, and I have seen Silkies, which are small to begin with, pretty badly battered by some standard breeds.

I have 2 Isa brown cross and 1 australorp cross

 

[Chicken-Man]

Hello there and

You can't just throw new birds into a flock. There is a pecking order that must be observed by each member and it is best the new birds learn this order slowly. So the new birds need to be kept in a cage or fenced off area but within the flock at all times for several weeks. Everybody sees nobody touches. After 3 or 4 weeks you can mix them all together. It should be fairly smooth. Watch them carefully that day and the rest of the week and always intervene if it turns bloody.

Put out several feed and water stations too so the new birds are not bullied away from eating and drinking. Make sure these new birds are the same size or close to the same size as the older hens. If these new birds are still very young, keep them separate, but in sight of the flock, until they are older. At least 3 or 4 months of age.

Enjoy all your adventures and welcome to our flock!

I had them in "look but dont touch" for more than 2 months and the 2 new girls are like 9 months old. Yeah, they are smaller. What if i blocked off their coop for most of the day so all 5 are forced o "play" together during the day. after lay of corse

 

[Michael OShay]

I have 2 Isa brown cross and 1 australorp cross

These shouldn't be aggressive (especially not the Australorp) unless they are crossed with an aggressive breed. Do you have any idea what they are crossed with?