bully chicken problem

[tennisgal]

one of my hens is bullying my younger hen, who's 4 months old. They are the same size, but she's relentlessly pecking at her which keeps the younger chicken in a state of stress. I've separated her from the flock a few times for several hours, added an additional feed/water containers, and put up three roosts. I'll be introducing another six chickens in about 3 months and am afraid she will do the same to them. She's from an original flock of five, now one year old. The original flock had a rooster and they all got along well. I found a new home for the rooster as he attacked me several times whenever I went into the roost. I've heard that one cannot introduce new flocks to older flocks. However, I've invested so much money and time, and I really want to maintain about 10 chickens. 5 originals - rooster re-homed and one died for no apparent reason. That left me with 5 four months olds and 3 one year olds. 4 were killed by raccoons as they slept near the heavy gauge fencing. NOW, I have 3 one year olds and 1 four month old. Still with me??? I bought six new chicks now 1 month old. QUESTION: SHOULD I CONSIDER GIVING THE BULLY TO MY NEIGHBOR AND HOPE HIS CHICKENS ACCEPT HER? OR SHOULD I TAKE MY CHANCES AND KEEP HER AND HOPE SHE STARTS BEHAVING????

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC. Where, in general, are you located? Climate matters. If you put your location into your profile people can give you better-targeted advice.

The first question with behavioral problems is almost always, How big is your coop and run? Space limitations don't always cause issues, but they are very often a contributing factor so that's the first thing to rule out.

Here is a good article on bullying: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/chicken-bully-chicken-victim-a-two-sided-issue.73923/

Here are some useful articles on integration:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/integrating-new-birds-at-4-weeks-old.72603/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/my-coop-brooder-and-integration.74591/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/introducing-new-chickens-using-the-“see-but-don’t-touch”-method.67839/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/adding-to-your-flock.47756/

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

You can definitely have a mixed age flock. I don't know a lot of people who don't. You might have to remove the bully for longer than a few hours. I have just integrated some five month olds with three year olds and one year olds. Multiple feed and water stations are key as are space and hiding places. If you can separate her for a couple days that might help but the little chick needs back up. The youngest one is alone and bottom of the pecking order so she is going to get picked on to some degree for a while regardless. I put two food and two water stations spread throughout the run because my boss chickens can't be everywhere so the little ones can always get food or water. If no one is bleeding and everyone is eating and drinking it will usually get better in time. Your neighbor will have a harder time integrating one chicken than you will adding multiple to your flock. Your flock has been through a lot of change recently so stress is high for everyone right now