Chicken Bullying

[Dani004]

Hi everyone.

I had hens, a Rhode Island Red, and an Easter Egger. On Sunday my husband and I decided to get two new Rhode Island Red hens, about a year old. I figured it was better to introduce 2 new hens as opposed to 1, to make the transition easier for all hens involved. (I do understand how weird that sounds)

My issue is the Easter Egger is NOT happy with the new hens. I get that there is going to be a pecking order, but the new hens are bleeding! The poor things are scared and try to escape the coop as soon as I open it. Seriously, they fall out when I open the door. They don’t know to put themselves away at night, so I don’t want to let them out for at least a week or so.

The Easter Egger is not aggressive toward me, my husband, or my 2 year old. She actually lets my 2 year old chase, pet, and play with her.

I am relatively new to chicken owning. I've had chickens for about 2 years now. I had to introduce new hens once before, and there was NO aggression. It was just like “here are your new friends,” and it worked out

Any advice or suggestions would really be appreciated!! I am worried about the bleeding and the level of aggression. When I hear the Easter Egger attack them I open the coop and smack her to show her I am the boss, but the moment the door is closed she goes right back at them. But I am not home enough to actually sit outside and give her a nudge every time she attacks them!

Thanks guys!

Dani

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Hi everyone.

I had hens, a Rhode Island Red, and an Easter Egger. On Sunday my husband and I decided to get two new Rhode Island Red hens, about a year old. I figured it was better to introduce 2 new hens as opposed to 1, to make the transition easier for all hens involved. (I do understand how weird that sounds)

My issue is the Easter Egger is NOT happy with the new hens. I get that there is going to be a pecking order, but the new hens are bleeding! The poor things are scared and try to escape the coop as soon as I open it. Seriously, they fall out when I open the door. They don’t know to put themselves away at night, so I don’t want to let them out for at least a week or so.

The Easter Egger is not aggressive toward me, my husband, or my 2 year old. She actually lets my 2 year old chase, pet, and play with her.

I am relatively new to chicken owning. I've had chickens for about 2 years now. I had to introduce new hens once before, and there was NO aggression. It was just like “here are your new friends,” and it worked out

Any advice or suggestions would really be appreciated!! I am worried about the bleeding and the level of aggression. When I hear the Easter Egger attack them I open the coop and smack her to show her I am the boss, but the moment the door is closed she goes right back at them. But I am not home enough to actually sit outside and give her a nudge every time she attacks them!

Thanks guys!

Dani

Hi, Dani ~

Actually the thought process you used is not weird at all and is quite accurate with integrating new birds into a flock - a single bird is the only target the existing flock would have, whereas more than one bird provides a better chance that any aggression would be spread out and no one bird would be the sole target.

How exactly did you approach the introduction of the new birds? Did you go through a gradual process where the new birds were within sight, but not reach, of the original flock or did you go straight to putting them all in the same enclosure? How much space is available to the birds in the coop and in any run that they have access to?

Consider it from the perspective of the birds - the new birds are not friends, they are invaders. Your existing birds see someone that is now in their space, taking their resources (food, etc). It also sounds like out of concern for coop training the new birds you have confined all the birds into the coop - is that true? If so, you have added the stressor of sudden confinement to the mix of the arrival of the new birds. When mixing new birds in with existing birds the more space you can allow them to have to get used to each other the better - in your situation it sounds like you have gone in teh opposite direction and given them even less space than the original birds are used to having.

Once bloodied, an injury becomes a prime target for further picking - meaning the pecking will get worse, not better, even with birds that are familiar with each other and fully integrated.

*I* would suggest taking the new birds out and giving them temporary quarters in which you can address the wound(s). From there you can restart the integration process by introducing the new birds in a safe area where the two groups can see, but not touch, each other. Let them get accustomed to seeing one another so that the "this is a strange new bird who doesn't belong in *my* yard/house/feed issue can lessen a bit before you allow them to mingle with one another. When you start the mingling process, do so in an area that allows all the birds an ability to move away from one another so that the issue of being confined and cornered is not in play.

 

[Judy]

Sometimes the pecking order is a lot more violent than others. I would separate the ones that are bleeding until their wounds bleed, because chickens will attack an open wound and make it worse and worse; they are little cannibals, little dinosaurs. Some people use Blukote, which is mostly gentian violet, and spray the wounds to hide the red color and prevent the others from ecking the wounds -- sometimes this works and sometimes not.

You may find it necessary to house the two groups separately but next to each other, with a fence between so they can see and hear each other, for a while, up to a month or maybe more.

Perhaps you will find some other ideas in this article, towards the end of it:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/adding-to-your-flock

Good luck!

 

[Dani004]

Thank you so much for the advice! Admittedly, I just plopped the other two in there and figured it would be ok. Their current coop is quite large I never thought it would be an issue. I have plenty of room at my place to separate them and start over.

We are also in the process of building a new coop, which we can easily add an insert for the look don’t touch approach that you are talking about. Our run is huge, very easily separated.

I truly appreciate it!

 

[Dani004]

oh my goodness! I've done all of your suggestions. The wounds healed, I put the new chickens with the old, but separated them with chicken wire.

Yesterday I had them in the runner together. Our runner is 3 ft by 8 (+) feet. They did ok I guess. At 4:00 they free ranged. The old chicken was still being a bully but no blood yesterday. We woke up this morning and one of the new chicken was dead!

Did I rush this!? I feel horrible! I've lost 4 chickens in 2 years, three to predators. What do I do with the other new chicken? Get her a buddy?