shelabobby
Chirping
Hey yall!
I did quite a bit of research when learning ways to integrate new chicks into your existing flock. We went with the playpen method and kept them in their isolation pen for 2 weeks before letting them out for a short time.
During that 2 weeks, we noticed that one of our hens started acting aggressive through the fencing and OBSESSED. She very rarely was not at the fence chasing them back and forth. When we did let them out she chased them relentlessly. They would not come out of the pen to explore if they knew she was out. I started to put her in isolation and the littles would start to explore right away.
I began to try and find some advice on how to handle a new bully but most things I found said "you can try" or "I have heard this works" but never "I did this and it worked for me". So I wanted to make a post for what worked for me.
We decided that we would try reverse isolation. So the bully was put in the "playpen" and the littles were aloud out to mingle and find their place in the flock. We put the littles in their brooder at night for a week and let the bully out to go in the regular coop.
No behavior change so we decided to do full time isolation with visibility for 2 weeks. Our chickens are in a run so we build a temporary separation wall at the back to give the bully a temporary coop and run space.
Now this is not easy for those who are on the pet side of chicken keeping. She hated it. She cried and flew all over the space once it got dark. But after a few nights she adjusted. Not happy but not panic like it was the first 2 nights.
I watched her behavior change over the 2 weeks. From pacing and aggression to relaxed and more like herself. She met me at the temporary wall door to get her snacks and walked with me to her coop and hopped in at night.
Today was the 2 week mark and I let her out on trial. I was so scared we would be right back to her chasing them, pulling feathers, hard pecks and comb grabbing. But to my surprise she came out and ran up the coop ladder to take a look around and make a nice nest for her egg later that day.
The big girls (3 of them) put her in her place. They let her know she was not the first to eat out of the feeders or ground snacks. She was not allowed to find a bug and not share. If she looked at the littles in any way, Goldie would run up and get between her and the littles and peck her gently while looking her in the eye like "No girl, they are one of us now".
So she was out all day. I just closed them up together for the first time and I can say "We did it!"
That is not to say there was no pecking order behavior because there was. There were a few scares but nothing compared to what it was a month ago. I feel safe leaving them to just be chickens at this point.
TLDR here is what I did that worked for me:
I did quite a bit of research when learning ways to integrate new chicks into your existing flock. We went with the playpen method and kept them in their isolation pen for 2 weeks before letting them out for a short time.
During that 2 weeks, we noticed that one of our hens started acting aggressive through the fencing and OBSESSED. She very rarely was not at the fence chasing them back and forth. When we did let them out she chased them relentlessly. They would not come out of the pen to explore if they knew she was out. I started to put her in isolation and the littles would start to explore right away.
I began to try and find some advice on how to handle a new bully but most things I found said "you can try" or "I have heard this works" but never "I did this and it worked for me". So I wanted to make a post for what worked for me.
We decided that we would try reverse isolation. So the bully was put in the "playpen" and the littles were aloud out to mingle and find their place in the flock. We put the littles in their brooder at night for a week and let the bully out to go in the regular coop.
No behavior change so we decided to do full time isolation with visibility for 2 weeks. Our chickens are in a run so we build a temporary separation wall at the back to give the bully a temporary coop and run space.
Now this is not easy for those who are on the pet side of chicken keeping. She hated it. She cried and flew all over the space once it got dark. But after a few nights she adjusted. Not happy but not panic like it was the first 2 nights.
I watched her behavior change over the 2 weeks. From pacing and aggression to relaxed and more like herself. She met me at the temporary wall door to get her snacks and walked with me to her coop and hopped in at night.
Today was the 2 week mark and I let her out on trial. I was so scared we would be right back to her chasing them, pulling feathers, hard pecks and comb grabbing. But to my surprise she came out and ran up the coop ladder to take a look around and make a nice nest for her egg later that day.
The big girls (3 of them) put her in her place. They let her know she was not the first to eat out of the feeders or ground snacks. She was not allowed to find a bug and not share. If she looked at the littles in any way, Goldie would run up and get between her and the littles and peck her gently while looking her in the eye like "No girl, they are one of us now".
So she was out all day. I just closed them up together for the first time and I can say "We did it!"
That is not to say there was no pecking order behavior because there was. There were a few scares but nothing compared to what it was a month ago. I feel safe leaving them to just be chickens at this point.
TLDR here is what I did that worked for me:
- See but no touch isolation for 2 weeks.
- Littles and other adults got fed first in view and close to her fence line. Then she got fed.
- Littles and other adults got closed up for the night first.
- Still provide love and individual attention to her. She still got her pets, hand fed snacks and fence grass
Just not before the others.
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