Chickens fighting

[ChickenDude3]

Hey guys im quite new to the forums so yeah. Anyways I got 5 hens 4 days ago and I noticed that one hen is scared of the bigger leader hen. Whenever my smaller hen goes near the leader hen she gets picked on by her and I just feel really bad for my smaller hen. We call her sandy yeah I dont know what to do to make all of them friends because she even pecks at her in the cage too. And sandy is always alone when we let them free range. Im open to all suggestions. Thanks!

 

[Den in Penn]

Sometimes it takes a few days for the pecking order to set up and a relative peace sets in. If there are no injuries leave them together. Once pecking order gets setup and one is always on the bottom. It can be tough on the lowest bird, but that is the way it is. To make it easier on them you can add a second feeder and water. A lot of space is also good. There isn't really anything you can do to make them be friends. Eventually they will at least coexist. That is just the way it is in the chicken world.

 

[ChickenDude3]

oh ok ill see what the future holds! thanks for replying

 

[junebuggena]

Sometimes it takes a few days for the pecking order to set up and a relative peace sets in. If there are no injuries leave them together. Once pecking order gets setup and one is always on the bottom. It can be tough on the lowest bird, but that is the way it is. To make it easier on them you can add a second feeder and water. A lot of space is also good. There isn't really anything you can do to make them be friends. Eventually they will at least coexist. That is just the way it is in the chicken world.

x2 but also make sure you have plenty of room. The average medium breed hen needs about 4 sq. ft. of floor space in the coop and 10 sq ft of run space. Larger breeds will need more, bantam breeds will need less. Too many chickens in too small a space will only make pecking order aggression worse.