Alrighty. It's been 2 years...

[Malibu99]

Let me start with a little background. We got 4 chickens about 2 years ago... A couple of weeks later we got another one. The other one (Ella) was chased and pecked until she bled after a month of quarantine. We tried everything in the books, but still no progress. We built her her own coop and drove off the the place we got her to get her another pullet to play with. We named this one Mir and they got along just fine. In fact, Ella thought Mir was her chick for a while... She was trying to sit on top of her and would show her all of the treats and stuff.

2 years later, the 5 chickens (we lost one of the first ones) still aren't all together. We let them free range together every day but if they get too close to eachother, Mir and Ella will get beat up and bloody, even though Ella is bigger. They've lived side by side for 2 years and we need to build a new coop, so they'll have to go together. Should I just toss them together and see what happens in the coop? What should I do? Thanks in advance.

Oh and if it matters, Ella is a light brahma, Mir is an Easter Egger, and the other three are a barred rock (Petrie), a New Hampshire (Seana) and a white rock (Ducky).

 

[3chickchicks]

Do you know who is the boss hen of the flock who does the attacking? Is it only one or two that attack her?
I've read about people removing the boss hen for long enough that she goes to the bottom of the pecking order. They introduce the new one and once the original boss hen has been "gone" for long enough, they bring her back in.

Another option is get another new bird and introduce her and the new bird together. It's really tough to bring in just one bird to the flock but if there's more than one, then the attacks are spread out between them.

 

[Malibu99]

Do you know who is the boss hen of the flock who does the attacking? Is it only one or two that attack her?
I've read about people removing the boss hen for long enough that she goes to the bottom of the pecking order. They introduce the new one and once the original boss hen has been "gone" for long enough, they bring her back in.

Another option is get another new bird and introduce her and the new bird together. It's really tough to bring in just one bird to the flock but if there's more than one, then the attacks are spread out between them.

Sorry if I wasn't clear, there are already two birds going in together. Lily, who was the boss hen, passed away from heatstroke last summer. All of them will join in beating them up, so I'm not sure what to do. If I remove one, the others go after Ella and Mir. Poor Mir wants to dust bathe with the Big Girls and she'll get to for a few minutes before they realize she's not one of them and she promptly gets kicked out. Ella just avoids them altogether. I have a dog pen that I could put them all in to see if maybe they will mingle yet they'll still have room to run away. Will that work?

 

[3chickchicks]

How much room do they have? Roosting together is also important and you could slip them in at night.

What normally happens is the new birds come in. They're instantly at the bottom of the pecking order so the established hens "put them in their place". If they have enough room, the new ones will put distance between the established ones. You might have two separate flocks for a few weeks. Slowly, the new ones get closer and closer and learn what pisses off the established hens and quit that behavior. Or they may take on an established bird and earn a new spot in the pecking order.

If they have room and the new ones aren't excessively dumb or stubborn, they fight/peck/chase but no injuries are sustained.

When I introduced some new ones, I made a pen out of left over hardware cloth and put the new ones in it. This gave the established hens a chance to see them, look at them, but nobody could get at them. Then I slipped them into the coop at night. There was some chasing and pecking and the new ones finally gave the established hens lots of room.Also, I read on here that getting scared is a bonding experience for them so a few times I ran after them all. Instantly they'd form one group and run away together. Occasionally, the boss hen would just chase one around in circles until she wore out "just because". Now they're one happy flock and rarely fight. They are definitely paired (the established hens are best friends and the new ones are best friends), but they work the yard, dust bathe and roost as a flock. They have a lot of room and roam the yard so they aren't bored and I think that helps with integration.

If one of your new ones goes and dust bathes before she's really allowed, she'll get kicked out because it's disrespectful. She hasn't asked permission and they haven't given it.
They won't ever become one flock until they are together 24/7, including roosting. You just have to make sure there's lots of room, places for the new ones to hide, a couple of feed/water stations far enough apart so the new ones can still get to it, and just let them work it out. If someone draws blood, then you need to separate that one and get her healed up before she goes back. If you can watch closely, you might be able to find one who is starting it or who is being too aggressive and drawing blood, then knock her down a few pegs by separating her from the flock for a week or so.

 

[Malibu99]

How much room do they have? Roosting together is also important and you could slip them in at night.

What normally happens is the new birds come in. They're instantly at the bottom of the pecking order so the established hens "put them in their place". If they have enough room, the new ones will put distance between the established ones. You might have two separate flocks for a few weeks. Slowly, the new ones get closer and closer and learn what pisses off the established hens and quit that behavior. Or they may take on an established bird and earn a new spot in the pecking order.

If they have room and the new ones aren't excessively dumb or stubborn, they fight/peck/chase but no injuries are sustained.

When I introduced some new ones, I made a pen out of left over hardware cloth and put the new ones in it. This gave the established hens a chance to see them, look at them, but nobody could get at them. Then I slipped them into the coop at night. There was some chasing and pecking and the new ones finally gave the established hens lots of room.Also, I read on here that getting scared is a bonding experience for them so a few times I ran after them all. Instantly they'd form one group and run away together. Occasionally, the boss hen would just chase one around in circles until she wore out "just because". Now they're one happy flock and rarely fight. They are definitely paired (the established hens are best friends and the new ones are best friends), but they work the yard, dust bathe and roost as a flock. They have a lot of room and roam the yard so they aren't bored and I think that helps with integration.

If one of your new ones goes and dust bathes before she's really allowed, she'll get kicked out because it's disrespectful. She hasn't asked permission and they haven't given it.
They won't ever become one flock until they are together 24/7, including roosting. You just have to make sure there's lots of room, places for the new ones to hide, a couple of feed/water stations far enough apart so the new ones can still get to it, and just let them work it out. If someone draws blood, then you need to separate that one and get her healed up before she goes back. If you can watch closely, you might be able to find one who is starting it or who is being too aggressive and drawing blood, then knock her down a few pegs by separating her from the flock for a week or so.

Will try that again, thanks! They've been in the "look but no touch" phase for the past 2 years. They'll have plenty of room, we're building a monster coop for 5 chickens LOL Again, thanks so much

 

[donrae]

So you have one group of 2 and one group of 3, correct?

I'd start with one of the group of 3, let her out with the 2. Keep the other 2 of the 3 in their coop. That one hen can't do much damage to 2 hens, especially with no back up. Have that one hen roost with the 2. Do this for a few days, then add a second of the 3.......finally repeat with the last bird. It's often a group mentality, and one at a time they're not near so aggressive.

 

[Malibu99]

So you have one group of 2 and one group of 3, correct?

I'd start with one of the group of 3, let her out with the 2. Keep the other 2 of the 3 in their coop. That one hen can't do much damage to 2 hens, especially with no back up. Have that one hen roost with the 2. Do this for a few days, then add a second of the 3.......finally repeat with the last bird. It's often a group mentality, and one at a time they're not near so aggressive.

Thanks! I'll try that starting today. I tried putting them together in the pen and that didn't work. Would you recommend putting the head hen or the hen lowest on the "totem pole" in with them?

 

[donrae]

I'm not sure it matters. With my birds, I'd just start with which ever I could catch first

 

[earlybird10842]

As well as following @donrae 's suggestion,I would make two separate areas in the new coop, so they can see each other, but not peck, and eventually remove the barrier