Chickens are being mean

[OrganicChicken]

Added three 6 month old hens to my flock of 10 six month olds, the 10 established hens are being very mean to the new ones, pecking them, not letting them in the coop, stealing food, just randomly attacking them, chasing them all over the place. Even my bottom of the pecking order bird is being very mean and aggressive to the new ones. Is there anything I can do to get them not to pick on the new hens? I am thinking of just starting to eat them...

 

[aart]

the coop is certainly not an issue, there are two large roosting bars in there and the established flock barely uses half of one of them, theres still plenty of room for other birds, the run is 24 x 6 and the yard is 1/2 acre... plenty of room

A 4x6 coop is not plenty of room for 13 chickens, maybe enough for 6 birds.
Especially newly integrated ones..... especially birds that my be just or close to laying, lots of hormones flying around.
Free ranging can help, but they still need to fit in the coop at night and/or on bad weather days.

How did you integrate them, did you give them some time side by side but physically separated to get used to seeing each other before putting them together?


Here's some notes I've taken on integration that I found to be very helpful.
See if any of them, or the links provided, might offer some tips that will assist you in your situation:

Integration of new chickens to flock.

Consider medical quarantine:
BYC Medical Quarantine Article
Poultry Biosecurity
BYC 'medical quarantine' search

Confine new birds within sight but physically segregated from older/existing birds for several weeks, so they can see and get used to each other but not physically interact. Integrating new birds of equal size works best.

For smaller chicks I used a large wire dog crate right in the coop for the smallers. I removed the crate door and put up a piece of wire fencing over the opening and bent up one corner just enough for the smallers to fit thru but the biggers could not. Feed and water inside the crate for the smallers. Make sure the smallers know how to get in and out of the crate opening before exposing them to the olders. this worked out great for me, by the time the crate was too small for the them to roost in there(about 3 weeks), they had pretty much integrated themselves to the olders.

If you have too many smallers to fit in a crate you can partition off part of the coop with a wire wall and make the same openings for smallers escape.


The more space, the better. Birds will peck to establish dominance, the pecked bird needs space to get away. As long as there's no blood drawn and/or new bird is not trapped/pinned down, let them work it out. Every time you interfere or remove new birds, they'll have to start the pecking order thing all over again.

Multiple feed/water stations. Dominance issues are most often carried out over sustenance, more stations lessens the frequency of that issue.

Places for the new birds to hide out of line of sight and/or up and away from any bully birds.

Read up on integration..... BYC advanced search>titles only>integration
This is good place to start reading:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/adding-to-your-flock

 

[WildWyandott110]

you best eat the bullys... what kind are the bullys and what kind are the newcomers?

 

[cluckcluckgirl]

You can try to separate the new hens in an area of the coop, so that the two groups can see each other, but not come in contact with each other. Also, how much room is in your coop? It is recommended that each chicken has at least 3-4 square feet of room, which can also make a big impact in reducing bullying.

 

[OrganicChicken]

The bullies are pretty much all of my older birds with the exception of buttercup, ive never seen her do anything mean. The primary aggressors are snowflake, silvia, sativa, indica, and sissy. But thats most of my flock, i just wish there was a way to put them in their place. Was thinking about trying the trick ppl do with aggressive roosters hold them upside down under my arm or something

my coop is 6x4 and made to hold 15 so the space isn't an issue, plus they free range in my yard all day there's no way I can seperate them any more than i do already, since the older ones wont let the new ones sleep in the coop they roost in my large outdoor brooder box

The old breeds are all listed in my signature, we just added a cream legbar, an amaracauna, and a black marans x lavender ameracauna olive egger as well as a bantam phoenix rooster, the only one who has successfully integrated into the flock is the rooster

we added them 3 weeks ago, thought at first it was a passing thing that would change with time but if anything has gotten worse

 

[WildWyandott110]

what i do is be a agressor....

i go over to the chicken who is picking on the new chickens and tap them on the head...

 

[cluckcluckgirl]

From my experience, my older birds were also some of the bullies. I've done that with some chickens who would not behave, and it seems to work. Another thing I've tried is (it's not proven or anything, but I saw some phenomenal results) giving the chickens some garlic. I had a trouble hen who didn't need an excuse to attack any chicken she saw, then one day I gave my chickens some scrambled eggs and garlic, and she calmed down significantly.

 

[cluckcluckgirl]

what i do is be a agressor....

i go over to the chicken who is picking on the new chickens and tap them on the head...

I've done that too. It works at giving them some of their own medicine.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

The aren't being mean - they are being chickens. The introduction of new birds will prompt an assertion of (and resorting of) the pecking order. The established flock are letting the newbies know their place. In this situation there is no need to eat anyone, or interfere, until/unless it escalates beyond normal introductory pecking order stuff.

 

[OrganicChicken]

The aren't being mean - they are being chickens. The introduction of new birds will prompt an assertion of (and resorting of) the pecking order. The established flock are letting the newbies know their place. In this situation there is no need to eat anyone, or interfere, until/unless it escalates beyond normal introductory pecking order stuff.

I would say its above and beyond normal pecking order, they litterally won't let them eat or drink (so i had to give the new ones a seperate feeder and waterer) They are literally ruthlessly attacking the new ones anytime they come close to the established flock. I've got to do something about it, I imagine the new birds are terrified.

I've also tried pecking at the mean ones while they are being mean if i catch them doing it and they don't really seem to be affected by it other than to run away from me.