Bullies and new coop

[ChickieMama2020]

We have 10 chickies all of which are approx 7 weeks old. They are a mix of breeds Light Brahmas, RIR, Buff Orpingtons, Sex Links, Silver Laced Wyandotts. About 3 weeks ago, when they were all still in the brooder, our 2 Light Brahmas got pecked pretty bad. It happened quickly and there was blood. So, we separated them to let them heal.

Now, with 2 brooders......once they were healed we mixed them with the 4 most docile birds in the flock and left the 4 bullies (2 RIR, 2 BO's) in a different brooder. Both brooders have netting and were close together, so they could see one another. All was good. Then, one night, the alpha RIR flew out of the top of her brooder into the one with the Light Brahmas and pecked them again and drew more blood. So, I separated the white brahmas again to heal.

It became time to put the flock out into the coop. I had to keep the light brahmas back b/c they were still healing. I was afraid that the RIR was going to bully the others, so I kept her back along with one of my BO who is a bit alpha. Now, I have 2 brooders; one with my 2 healing Light Brahmas and one with my RIR and my BO who are both peckers. The others are in the coop.

My hubby and I decided to try and re-introduce the Light Brahmas to the chicks in the coop. We watched and saw the the remaining RIR and BO were pecking badly at them. So, we brought the RIR and BO back into the house into the brooder with my other RIR and BO bully.

Did we do the right thing? The light brahmas who have been pecked twice are now out in the coop. My hubby is watching them, but can't watch them all day. And, now we have both RIR and both BO's inside in the brooder. How do we best re-introduce them to the coop and the rest of the flock? I was planning to do 1 by 1 with a day or 2 in between and starting with the most 'docile' first. Is that ok?

Please help. Any tips/guidance would be much appreciated. I feel very out of my depth here and don't want any more chickies to get hurt.

 

[NatJ]

How do we best re-introduce them to the coop and the rest of the flock? I was planning to do 1 by 1 with a day or 2 in between and starting with the most 'docile' first. Is that ok?

That sounds like a sensible plan for re-introducing the bullies.

The other thing that can make a big difference is having lots of space and especially lots of things to do. So you can put in some clumps of sod (eat/scratch), a pile of dead leaves for them to scratch through, vegetable/fruit peels to munch on, cardboard boxes to climb on and hide behind, branches or boards to sit on and use like a jungle gym, etc. Being able to hide behind a box or hop up on a perch can also let the targets get away from the bullies, if they need to.

 

[FluffyButtBabies]

You can also let them be isolated, but still in view of the other chicks. They'll get used to having the poor chicks around without being able to hurt them, and will hopefully stop bullying them.