Disaster! Integrating broody and chicks to flock not going well

[SamCO]

My broody currently is caring for three chicks 1 week and 1.5 weeks old. She’s in a seperate area within the coop and run and has been seperate within the flock for about 2-3 weeks. Yesterday I tried letting her and chicks out with the flock to mingle and the other birds started viscously attacking her. Not just pecks , but full on flogging. She tried to defend herself but ended up just hiding in her he corner. No way to protect her chicks, as she was just trying to survive. I was right there and stopped it and she was not hurt. Luckily the flock didn’t seem to care about the chicks. I closed the door to her area to give her a break. I’d like to start trying again if possible. She was always at the bottom of the pecking order, but no one has ever actually picked on her.

Ideas? Thinking I’ll start with just a couple birds out in the run and try to integrate them a couple birds at a time. Should I try a squirt bottle to take down the meanies a notch?

If this doesn’t wok, thinking I’ll try to get her and her chicks inter grated with my 5 week olds and then maybe as all the chicks are older, try to integrate my broody and all the chicks at once?

I had no idea this would be an issue since she never left the coop. Poor thing.

Any help is appreciated!

 

[21hens-incharge]

Poor girl! That's a rough reintroduction. I am glad you were there to step in.

Since she is a bottom rung bird it may help to introduce the 5week olds to her first then them and her group to the flock in a few more weeks. The larger number of birds entering might help distract the adults.

Do keep in mind that since she is mom to the young ones she may not want those 5 week olds around.

Extra space and clutter in the run is very helpful too. Can you set up tree stumps, vertical barriers she and her brood can hide behind to be out of sight of the others?
Definitely have multiple feeders and water dishes in there too.

 

[SamCO]

Poor girl! That's a rough reintroduction. I am glad you were there to step in.

Since she is a bottom rung bird it may help to introduce the 5week olds to her first then them and her group to the flock in a few more weeks. The larger number of birds entering might help distract the adults.

Do keep in mind that since she is mom to the young ones she may not want those 5 week olds around.

Extra space and clutter in the run is very helpful too. Can you set up tree stumps, vertical barriers she and her brood can hide behind to be out of sight of the others?
Definitely have multiple feeders and water dishes in there too.

Thanks for your input. I have tried several things over the past week. I have started introducing this broody and her chicks to the older chicks. She chases them off, but doesn’t seem to be hurting them. I’ve also tried re-introducing her to the main flock again, and it seems that things will go OK for a while, and then once one attacks her, they all attack her. Luckily, still no harm for her chicks. I suppose I’ll just keep trying and hopefully she will either accept the younger flock and I can introduce them all together or she will be accepted back into her flock. Talk about stressful. I have a month to figure out someway to get it all working before we’re supposed to go out of town for a week. Would be so much easier if I only have to have chickens divided Into two pens versus three. I never would have imagined that it would be so hard to re-introduce a chicken who was never out of sight from her flock.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I am fighting a stubborn elderly bantam myself. Her flockmates have passed and she adamantly refuses to join my main flock.
The runs are right next to each other yet when together SHE is the aggressive one.
For mine it's keeping her separate.

Have you tried introducing your older chicks to.the main flock? They may accept the chicks into the flock and then you only have 2 groups. The mom and her chicks and then the main flock with the newly accepted chicks.

 

[SamCO]

I am fighting a stubborn elderly bantam myself. Her flockmates have passed and she adamantly refuses to join my main flock.
The runs are right next to each other yet when together SHE is the aggressive one.
For mine it's keeping her separate.

Have you tried introducing your older chicks to.the main flock? They may accept the chicks into the flock and then you only have 2 groups. The mom and her chicks and then the main flock with the newly accepted chicks.

How did your reintroduction end up? I finally locked up four birds in a seperate mean girls club ( ) for 3 days and let my girl and all the chicks mingle with the rest of the flock. Those four seemed to be the bullies who were initiating the attacks (they were the next youngest group, so guessing they just really didn’t want to lose ground in the pecking order.) All seems pretty peaceful will all the birds now. A bit if chasing the chicks but nothing major. Thanks for the tips!

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

Oh, I'm so glad you found a way to help your sweet broody rejoin her flock. She's gorgeous and her babies are just too sweet.

 

[SamCO]

She kicked her babies to the curb at three weeks. So I added her three to the other chicks who were a month older than them. What a lot of chicken drama!

 

[Prince and Pavo]

Hello!

Uh oh, I’ve got five hens in their own coop that I’m already worried about trying to integrate! They do fine together (for the most part) but the other hens try to fight with them through the wire! I’m not sure what I’m gonna do yet…

 

[21hens-incharge]

How did your reintroduction end up? I finally locked up four birds in a seperate mean girls club ( ) for 3 days and let my girl and all the chicks mingle with the rest of the flock. Those four seemed to be the bullies who were initiating the attacks (they were the next youngest group, so guessing they just really didn’t want to lose ground in the pecking order.) All seems pretty peaceful will all the birds now. A bit if chasing the chicks but nothing major. Thanks for the tips!

I had resigned myself to her living in the segregated but next to section of the coop and run.
I apparently didn't fully latch her gate about 4 days ago. I went out in the morning to find she was roosting with the main flock of her own choosing. No one was beat up so I have left her gate propped open. So far it looks like she self integrated with the big flock.
So much drama from her for almost a full year!

I am glad yours have been able to integrate too! It seems so silly that they put up such a fuss.