Can I put my 3 month old pullets with my 4 month pullets?

[Thefly67]

I have 7 isa browns, 1 rock roo, 1 rock pullet(4 months today)They were all born on the same day. I replaced 3 roosters with 3 younger pullets that I was told that they are 3 months. I want to know 3 things.
Can I get some feedback on putting them together in the same coop? 2 of the 3 new ones are larger than the 3rd. I am not concerned with placing them together. I am concerned about the smaller one.
They were observed for hours yesterday, and only a small amount of " pecking order" was established. Should they be left alone?

I am getting a lot of attitude out of a few Iso pullets. They will raise up, and try to peck when I try to peck them. (It is starting to hurt) What else can I do to change the behavior? I have picked them up for a while and pet them. I have also tried to do some Cesar Millan on them with a quick "sstt" to their side. I just don't know what else I can do....any suggestions? I can pet them when my hand catches them front a side, but can peck if I come from the front of them. I can even pet the roo, but he is not as aggressive at the browns. ( although he did draw blood on my finger the other day.)

The third this is, do I have to concern myself with the roo trying to mate with my younger 3? I witnessed him mounting one of the browns last night. Not worried about the older ones, but really could hurt my smaller one. Should they still be separated at lest for another month?

Pat

 

[my sunwolf]

I would not worry too much! One thing some people do is put up a wire barrier between two sides of the coop for a week or so to let them get to know each other first, and then introduce them to each other. If they are free range when they are introduced, there will be a lot less aggression. If they are locked up together, things could get ugly, which is why the wire barrier suggestion is best for that situation.

At 4 months and 3 months, the Rock cockerel is not going to hurt the young pullets.

The ISAs are just curious! They are looking for treats. I watch for body language and don't put my face/hands out when they are thinking about pecking. They will not get gentler, but they will get friendlier as they get older, especially with food rewards in addition to cuddling. These are the birds to watch with the younger ones as they can definitely get aggressive and draw blood with other chickens.

What do you mean "try to peck when I try to peck them"? Like I said, I would not just stick my hand in front of a chickens' beak, especially an ISA or RSL, as their instinct is to peck!

And I would not handle the roo a lot at this age, but wait until he is a little older. I've found that this helps with aggression, whereas handling too young can bring out aggression.

 

[Thefly67]

Pet them. Ha!! When I try to pet them.
I will not try to bother the rooster anymore. I have never heard that, but I am still new to all of this. They were just recently moved from my basement to their coop, so I am still in the 10 dayish keep them in the coop thing. I had read that on this site, in order to teach them that the coop is HOME. So they have not been outside yet. This week is going to be warm. They will get outside this week.