Civil Unrest in the Coop

[AbbysSilkies]

Hello!
i have 4 2-year-old ISA Brown hens who are as sweet (to people) as can be. One of them can be testy but nothing like a leghorn or RIR; if you move too quickly they crouch. They’ve always been absolute babies, and they let me cuddle them and get along well with the goats. In February of this year, we got 7 Ameraucana chicks (female), who are now 5 months. We gave a couple away, and have been trying to merge the other 5 with the ISAs. It’s... not going well. We have a 25 sq ft coop and 100 sq ft run, with water and feed inside and out, plus tiered perches. The big girls despise the little ones!! The ameraucanas are very flighty, and only tolerate human touch. Beforehand, we kept the big girls in their old coop for two days and let the little ones get used to the enclosure we use now. Then, we put the big gals in there one night. The next day? Chaos. For the first week or two after that, we sectioned off the run and put a mini coop in half so the big girls were confined. The little ones came outside and played in the grass, content. Then we put them together again. It’s been a few weeks now, and the little ones spend all day on the highest perch while the big girls patrol the run. Surely the little ones are eating at some point, but we haven’t seen them leave their post. The big ones only go in the coop to pay, but they harass the little ones every chance they get. Any advice?

 

[Folly's place]

You have four hens and five pullets in 25 sq. ft. of coop? That's very tight! It can be part of the problem, besides normal social integration issues. And production reds like your hens tend to be tougher than many too.
Having a temporary divider in the coop, and separate feeders and waterers in different areas, and places to be out of sight, all help.
Is anyone injured? If not, make sure everyone is eating and drinking, and give it all more time. And a larger coop!
Mary

 

[Mrs. K]

I agree, too many birds. You might try pin-less peepers on the big girls, others in small pens have got that to work. A lot of hideouts, clutter in the run will help. But you do have them pretty tight, and Isa Browns are a bit aggressive to other birds.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Both coop and run are tight, especially for integration, which eats up more space as chicks need to be able to get away from adults.

I agree on adding clutter, and multiple food sources placed far apart (and optimally behind some clutter), however this is where having extra space comes in - clutter can take up a lot of room, and in 100 sq ft run, it's going to be hard to have the food stations far enough apart.