Bullying

[whittleah]

I need advice with integrating new chickens. I have a flock of 15 that are about a month away from laying. About a month ago, I got four other chickens that are the same age, maybe a few weeks younger, that I got from a friend who was needing new homes for hers. They were always picked on, a bit but were fine since I let them free range during the day and they could easily run away. But I have a trip coming up and need to keep them all locked into their coop/run while I’m gone. I experimented this morning and there was quite a bit of picking. Two or three of my original hens constantly picked on the other four, keeping them away from the food and water. When I saw one pull out several feathers, I finally let them out to run free. My question is, if I leave them be and just make sure no one is seriously injured, is there a chance they may eventually work things out? I’ve had chickens before, but never had to integrate two flocks.

 

[3KillerBs]

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

How big, in feet or meters, is your coop? How big is your run?

What are you feeding them and how many feed and water stations do you have?

Could you post photos of your setup?

Are all the birds the same breed?

Bullying is a complex issue with many factors that can contribute to it and seeing your birds and your setup can help us spot things you might be able to fix.

 

[LaFleche]

For how long will you be gone?

Maybe you could ask a neighbour or family to care for your chicken during your absence.

What you described could easily lead to severely injured or even dead pullets when being locked up for too long in a space not big enough to get out of the way.

 

[whittleah]

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

How big, in feet or meters, is your coop? How big is your run?

What are you feeding them and how many feed and water stations do you have?

Could you post photos of your setup?

Are all the birds the same breed?

Bullying is a complex issue with many factors that can contribute to it and seeing your birds and your setup can help us spot things you might be able to fix.

Thank you! I’m in central GA.
I have a chicken tractor that is moved to fresh grass every day or every other day. It’s a total of 180 square feet of floor space (counting run area and upper coop part).
For water, I have a 5 gallon waterer with 10 drinkers in the run, and a smaller waterer in the upper coop.

For feed, I have two large feeders with space for 6-8 birds at a time where I feed Modesto Milling grower crumble, as well as two four foot PVC troughs where they get kitchen scraps, scratch grains, whey, etc. I also have a small feeder in the upper coop.

I have a variety of breeds. Wyandottes, Red Stars, Black Stars, RIR, Amaricauna, and a Creme Legbar (she’s the one that gets picked on the most. She’s the same age, but smaller). I also have an Amaracauna rooster.

I’m also worried that if we completely free range them, they won’t return to the nesting boxes to lay.

 

[LaFleche]

So in total there are 19 chickens in this chicken tractor.

Could you upload some pictures from the inside of your coop? How much roosting space does each bird have? I really wonder how they all fit in there without sitting on top of each other.

I think that even without the 4 newcomers you recently added they were crowded in there.

Red Stars, Black Stars, RIR all are high performance hybrids/breeds that tend to be quite aggressive, even more so in tight quarters.

 

[whittleah]

So in total there are 19 chickens in this chicken tractor.

Could you upload some pictures from the inside of your coop? How much roosting space does each bird have? I really wonder how they all fit in there without sitting on top of each other.

I think that even without the 4 newcomers you recently added they were crowded in there.

Red Stars, Black Stars, RIR all are high performance hybrids/breeds that tend to be quite aggressive, even more so in tight quarters.

I’ll upload pictures of the inside as soon as I get a chance. I was also worried about space, especially when I agreed to rescue these most recent four. I know they aren’t completely grown yet, but I’ve been amazed at how much empty space they leave on the roosts at night. They all like to huddle together on one side and leave lots of empty space. Some of them are nearly sitting on top of each other, but they choose to do so.

 

[LaFleche]

Another thing to keep in mind: your tractor is not safe.

Predators can easily dig underneath, get in and have a feast. A closer look at picture 2 and 3 reveals that they do not even have to dig to get in.

 

[3KillerBs]

The Usual Guidelines

For each adult, standard-sized hen you need:

• 4 square feet in the coop (.37 square meters)
• 10 square feet in the run (.93 square meters),
• 1 linear foot of roost (.3 meters),
• 1/4 of a nest box,
• And 1 square foot (.09 square meters) of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation, preferably located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.

20 hens

• 80 square feet in the coop. 8'x10' is the most practical because 7'x12' or 6'x14' require a lot of weird cuts.
• 20 feet of roost
• 200 square feet in the run. 10'x20', 12'x16' or 8'x25' as suits the land available.
• 20 square feet of ventilation.
• 5 nest boxes.

So, with 19 birds in a total of 180 square feet you're pretty crowded -- since you'd need more than that in the run alone plus the the space required in the coop.

Crowding doesn't *inevitably* cause bullying and social problems, but it is very frequently a contributing factor.

Additionally, since you have an A-frame design a certain amount of the space at the walls -- the space too short for a chicken to stand upright -- is unusable for them.

Moving a tractor takes care of the sanitation issues associated with crowding but it also makes it difficult if not impossible to improve the quality of the space by adding "clutter" to the run so the birds can have plenty of hiding space where they can break line of sight with the bullies.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/posts/21588571

 

[whittleah]

Another thing to keep in mind: your tractor is not safe.

Predators can easily dig underneath, get in and have a feast. A closer look at picture 2 and 3 reveals that they do not even have to dig to get in.

The upper coop part is actually very secure. At night the ramp closes and locks. We had an experienced chicken keeper look at the coop when we built it and he confirmed that it is very secure when locked.

 

[whittleah]

Another thing to keep in mind: your tractor is not safe.

Predators can easily dig underneath, get in and have a feast. A closer look at picture 2 and 3 reveals that they do not even have to dig to get in.

Also, the mesh we used for the floor of the coop is thick gauge welded wire with 1x1 holes with all attachment points reinforced. I don’t see how anything could get through that, even if something were to get into the run. There’s a chance that a raccoon could stick his hand through the wire, but I don’t think it’s possible that he could stick his arm in far enough to reach anything since the roosts are above that.