Bullies?

[MILOCHICKEN]

Thank you for the advise.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

How old is she? How many other birds? How much space in the coop and run? She is almost 6 months old. There are 8 other birds. There is 32 feet squared of room in the coop. She is large for her age. This year we used an incubator to hatch 11 chickens. Only 2 were hens. then 1/2 of a month later our hen naturally incubated 3 eggs. She was one of them. she is the same size as the hens that were incubated in an incubator. She may even be slightly larger then them.

If she had been left with the hen that hatched her, there would be no integration required because the broody would have protected them until they were big enough.

So you have 9 birds in a 32 sq foot coop? How many feet of roost? Do you keep a light on them at night? Do you free range, I didn't catch the size of your run? Were the other two pullets added to the coop at the same time she was? What is her breed?

The size of your coop really is kinda tight. And if you have bad weather and they stay inside, they can get a little restless and chaos ensues.

What do you feed?

So girls and boys under 1 year old are called pullets and cockerels. After the one year mark they get called hens and roosters. Just so you know.

 

[MILOCHICKEN]

I told my dad that we should have left her with the hen. I know more than the rest of my family about chickens. He was scared because the hen was pecking the shell off of them. we have about 10 feet of roost, but she sleeps in the nesting box. We keep a light on them at night. We rarely let them free range, because around my area there are many coyotes. None of my neighbors free range anymore. One time my neighbor got 10 guinea hens and she let them free range and they were dead in a week.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

How big is your enclosed run?

10 feet of roost is not really enough for 9 chickens unless they are bantam.

I am afraid with your set up, your issues may become worse!

If you don't have the ability to make your coop bigger, you might consider finding a few girls new homes.

Keeping a light on at night may intensify the situation. Chickens don't usually get up at night because they can't see well in the dark. But if they are getting up them they have the option to bully all night. If you are going to have a light, it should be on a timer and come on in the morning hours. But light is only to increase winter egg production. And without natural darkness your chickens lives will probably decrease in length. Bare minimum, switch to a red light. I suggest eliminating it though so the chickens can let their bodies rest. They will produce more years even if less during the winter.

Block off the nest box! She can sleep on the ground if she chooses, but nobody wants poopy eggs from someone sleeping in there or to have to clean it out. It's a bad habit. She probably can't get on roost even if she wants to without being pecked down. Maybe you can add more roost or a lower roost for while she works her way into the pecking order.

Hard to say, Dad might have been right.

But your issue now is different. It's about integration and space. Coyotes are veracious!

Maybe since you guys process your birds, you can process some of your older, slower laying hens and have more room for your pullet or future additions. Even when we think we know more than our parent, and SOMETIMES do... we still have to follow their way until we make it out on our own.

Good luck!

 

[MILOCHICKEN]

We are giving some of our old hens to our neighbor

 

[EggSighted4Life]

We are giving some of our old hens to our neighbor

Maybe suggest she doesn't free range?

That should help your situation almost immediately!

Best wishes for a smooth transition.

 

[MILOCHICKEN]

Thank you for the information.