Chickens fighting

[poulan]

i bought four females about a year ago as babies they are now laying eggs which is great,well i bought 4 more about 6 months ago they were kept in a seperate cage, now when i try to put the younger hens with the older hens the older hens will actually hold them down with their feet and just peck the heck out of them ,the older hens 1 is a california whitey,2 is rhode island reds,1 is a barred rock,the younger hens is 2 is barred rock,the other 2 is california whiteys, i wanted to put them all together, can somebody please help me with whats wrong i dont have any roosters i thought they would have got along but apparently not !

 

[MandyH]

Mine have done that too. As long as the younger ones are not real little and the bigger ones are going to kill them they will usually work it out amongst themselves in a couple days. Make sure they have plenty of room to get out of each others face.

 

[ruth]

I've heard that if you slip the new ones in the coop at night it goes easier. That's what I did but I also let mine out each morning to free range. I found that while in their large run the older ones would dominate the younger and chase them off from every food pile I put down. But once I started lettting them free range - everyone gets along and hangs out together. Put them back in their run - chest butting starts again. However, I have never seen them actually fight or peck one another - just chase each other. I truly believe they get bored being "cooped up".