All hell has broken loose.

[Pi-Co]

I have 4 Rhode Island Red hens that are 6 months old and a five month old bronze turkey hen. I just introduced 8 more chickens after three weeks of "play dates. They are all three-four months old with half bantams half normal. Day 1 was pretty ok some roughness but nothing too bad the turkey didn't even freak out. Day 2 was about the same. Day 3 EVERYTHING is trying to kill each other. The little ones sent fighting but the big hens are attacking the little ones and each other. Feathers are everywhere even the turkeys. One chick is now sitting in a crate in the middle of my living room now. The chickens have decided to stop laying. The one that is is now laying in a cardboard box on top of the chicken coop (never been there before.

. Another chicken has decided to abandon the flock and live in the neighbors yard. I walked away for five minutes and came back to a chick missing all of its tail feathers. I have no clue what's going on. Hell they even attacked the dog. Currently my pen is now separated by old wooden desk and pool rafts. Someone please help I guess this is karma for everything going so great so far. Inside the coop the little ones have a dog cage. Over night somehow three got out (the big birds opened the latch?) and I found them shoved between the wall and the cage. I have no clue what to do they need to stay out of the garage (started to smell bad) but they can't settle down with the others. Right now I'm about to have two more inside the pet icu. Anyway to get this stop? Also how scared should I be about feathers being plucked out mainly off the bantams feet and their tails.

 

[Sonya9]

If I were you I would pull those bantams out of their asap before someone ends up dead.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would go back to separating the groups. Turkeys can be rough on chickens, especially bantam chickens, but I'm not sure about a turkey hen. Bringing together 2 groups of different ages is always a challenge, and having them separated by a temporary fence where they can see one another can help. Bantams can be raised with larger chickens, but I would only do this if they were raised together as babies. Hatchery RIRs can be a bit on the aggressive side, but each chicken is different. Hopefully, you can get everyone settled down. It helps to lock new chickens inside a new coop for up to a week, so they know where they should sleep and roost. There are many threads on integrating chickens if you do a search at the top of the page.

 

[Wol1]

Quote: I agree. For now, put everyone back where they were before. Let the dust settle. Give yourself time to think it through. This seems unusually aggressive. Something changed on Day 3 or overnight between 2 and 3. I've had some rough introductions/reintroductions, but not like that.