Chicks not roosting

[USMC chicken mommy]

Hello again
So, last year was our first year with chickens. Started with 10, lost 6 to a neighborhood dog, dog came back several weeks later and took a chunk out of one of the last 4 birds, ran her to the vet where we kept her in the makeshift “icu” unit in our jacuzzi tub for 3 weeks......and her feathers grew back and she has been an upstanding chook citizen since!
This past March, I bought 2 more baby easter eggers, and they started off little devils with claws and feathers. Something happened to where they became as docile and gentle as can be, wanting to be petted and held, etc.
I kept them from the original flock, where they can see each other, letting them out with the others a little at a time. My original flock is an Wyandotte, an Easter egger and 2 Orpingtons. The orpingtons have no issues with the younger ones. The other 2, they are out for blood. Since the 2 younger ones are so docile, they just hunker down and take the beating. I don’t let it go for long, as I am afraid they are going to kill them. I have a permanent coop and a chicken tractor, and the 2 younger birds stay in the tractor. They won’t use their roosting bars, however. They literally sleep in the nesting box, on top of each other.
Can someone please give me some advice on how to incorporate them with the original flock or how to get them to roost?
Sorry for the long post. Thanks for taking the time to read and possibly help me.

 

[CluckerFamily]

I would be helpful if you included pictures of the roost area for the young ones.
For integration, I always do a 2-3 week see but no touch integration where the new members are always part and within the flock but no one can peck each other for 2-3 weeks. Some people just put the new members in with the flock but things can go bad very fast.

 

[aart]

Here's some tips about.....
Integration Basics:
It's all about territory and resources(space/food/water).
Existing birds will almost always attack new ones to defend their resources.
Understanding chicken behaviors is essential to integrating new birds into your flock.

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.

In adjacent runs, spread scratch grains along the dividing mesh, best if mesh is just big enough for birds to stick their head thru, so they get used to eating together.

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 copious blood drawn and/or new bird is not trapped/pinned down and beaten unmercilessly, 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'(but not a dead end trap) and/or up and away from any bully birds. Roosts, pallets or boards leaned up against walls or up on concrete blocks, old chairs tables, branches, logs, stumps out in the run can really help. Lots of diversion and places to 'hide' instead of bare wide open run.
Good ideas for hiding places:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/

 

[One Lucky Momma]

Is it feasible to block nest boxes for the night and unblock early for laying? Sounds inconvenient but would encourage roosting- tho they may well be using boxes for security.

NatJ, above, the idea of letting youngsters align with Orpingtons sounds good. It’s amazing how dominance and aggression shift, depending on how the teams are made up!

Good luck with this. You’ve obviously put a lot of thought and effort into creating an agreeable situation for everyone involved. And hopefully your neighbor’s dog is out of the picture.

 

[NatJ]

My original flock is an Wyandotte, an Easter egger and 2 Orpingtons. The orpingtons have no issues with the younger ones. The other 2, they are out for blood.

You could re-arrange, so you have a flock of 2 mean ones in the chicken tractor, and 4 birds in the main coop.

If the younger ones become comfortable with the Orpingtons, then they will be part of a larger group.

The mean birds may settle down when they find that "their" group is now the smaller group. (Or they might not. In which case I'd consider whether to make them into chicken soup, or whether to keep them as two separate groups.)

Just to check--you say all the birds in both groups are mature and laying eggs now?

 

[aart]

Is it feasible to block nest boxes for the night and unblock early for laying? Sounds inconvenient but would encourage roosting- tho they may well be using boxes of the sense of security.

It is and works very well for me here....I uncover nests after dark when I lock up so I don't have to get up early.

 

[NatJ]

I'm confused. You said you have the main coop and the tractor and that the two young ones are in the tractor. But then you said the young ones are sleeping in the nesting box and you can't close it off because that's where they lay eggs. Are you keeping them separated during the day and together at night?

This past March, I bought 2 more baby easter eggers,

I'm thinking even the "young" ones are old enough to lay eggs. If they hatched in March, they must be about 6-7 months old by now.

 

[SegiDream]

I'm thinking even the "young" ones are old enough to lay eggs. If they hatched in March, they must be about 6-7 months old be now.

oh huh I missed that. I was thinking they were much younger...

hmm then I'd say make sure the roosts are higher than the nesting boxes in the tractor?

 

[Bear1978]

Take the nesting boxes out of the coop the younger birds are in too.

 

[USMC chicken mommy]

The nesting boxes cannot be removed. I can block them off, but that’s where they lay their eggs, too. I can’t show pics, but it’s 2 roosting bars inside the coop, they would just rather lay on top of each other, I suppose.
As for the 2-3 week separation, I’ve had them since March. I let them out into the yard together, as we have 2 acres, and the 2 aggressive hens will chase and bludgeon the smaller hens, no matter where they are. And they do try to keep their distance as they are afraid of them. There’s not a space issue at all. There was no blood the last time, but the one hen hurt one of the pallets legs so badly that she wouldn’t even stand on it. There was yet another vet visit for Xrays and pain meds.
Allowing them to fight it out concerns me, as I’m sure it does everyone. I’m not really an expert on hen behavior, but I have seen the dominance within the coop to gain territory with my older ones. However it never comes to this extent with them.
Thanks for your help. I appreciate it!