can i just let my birds.....

[chickachickawhat]

i just got three new chickens and they seem to not like the other 3. i have separated them for now but i have to put them together tonight. i bought my first 3 last week. and i bought three today from the same place. so should i just let them solve there own problems or what?

 

[wynedot55]

when the 1st 3 go to roost.id put the new 3 in there when its good dark.an let them sort it out in the morning.you might want to give the new hens a safe place to hide.

 

[tnkinhunting]

That's good advice, just keep a close eye on them in the am - they will have to establish a pecking order.

 

[chickachickawhat]

its the new ones that are pecking though

 

[red-hen]

Can you make a divider between them - either plastic netting or something cheap - just so they can all see eachother for a few days .. and then try introducing after they seem not to care about eachother's presence anymore? Might be better than letting them duke it out if one breed / group is much more aggressive.

Do they have accesss to a run?

Do they have access to green food? Hang some greens in there and keep them all busy.

How old are they all?

 

[chickachickawhat]

i have 3 six months and 3 year and a half's. and if i divide the coop there is no way for them to have water and food. or both have a access to the run

 

[red-hen]

Oh - also - this is the best article I've ever read about chicken's pecking others to the point of disaster ... how to stop it - why it starts etc....

Click here:
http://www.hencam.com/blog.htm

and scroll down to this part:

Pecked to Death
March 11, 2008

This is not a pretty topic, but just about everyone who has kept chickens has faced it at least once. Sunday night I got a call from a friend here in town. She's kept chickens for thirty years, but just this week had her first experience with finding two hens pecked to death. ..... (continued on that web site linked above)

 

[chickenannie]

What I learned is that since chicken flocks ALWAYS have a pecking order, any new introduction needs to be done carefully because the newcomers "disrupt" the existing pecking order and they will fight it out until the new order is in place. So... make sure the sizes are similar (don't put half-growns in with full-growns) and don't constantly add random new chickens without realizing there's going to be fighting, possibily disruption of egg-laying, etc, until the new pecking order is established.

Mine chickens free-range and are locked into the coop only at night, so if I buy new chickens, I have to lock them ALL up together for at least a few days to a week until everyone knows where they stand, and only then do i let them free-range again. They peck and chase and fight with each other during that time. If I didn't lock them up for that amount of time the "oldies" would chase the "newbies" out altogether and not let them come in the henhouse at all and they would not lay eggs in the nestboxes where I want them to.

 

[red-hen]

How is your flock doing this morning?

 

[chickachickawhat]

pretty good. all they really do i yap at each other and they keep making noises. they do like buff charges but never really peck. i think they know that they came from the same farm. also i added lots of food and treats for them to get the other chickens off the menu.