Disastrous Introduction

[CatMack]

Our little Silkies are now 14 weeks old. They have been staying in a small dog crate inside the coop at nighttime and during the day they stay inside a seperate mini coop beside the big coop. We were hoping that everyone seeing each other would make an easier transition.

1 of the little Silkies accidentally got out of her crate and got outside into the big yard when she was about 5 weeks old. We don't know how long she was out for as we were at work. She was brutally attacked and we found her in a corner, close to death. We nursed her back to health but now she is extremely nervous, even when we handle her. I believe she unfortunately suffered some sort of brain damage as she has mini seizures if she is worked up at all now, whether this is just a normal reaction when in danger, I am not sure.

Today we decided to try and make the transition for everyone together....it did not go well at all. The Wyandotte's peck at them and chase them around but then leave them be if they stay out of the way and away from the main group. The newer lavender Americana's are pinning them down and ripping out feathers and pecking them as if they are trying to kill them. When we introduced the 2 Americana's about 3 months ago it was rough but the Wyandotte's did not behave so brutally. They pecked and kicked and chased them off and on for about 6 weeks and then "the new pecking order" was established and all was good.

We supervised the Silkie introduction for over an hour and it just got worse...the little Silkies were terrified and I didn't want to traumatize them anymore. We even placed little hiding spots for the Silkies to get away but the Lavenders just dragged them out and held them down. A couple of times I intervened and had to throw them off the little Silkies. I am guessing that due to the size difference their relationships with each other will never improve. Could the earlier accidental exposure cause this brutal behavior??. I do not doubt that if we left them alone for a few hours we would find the Silkies dead.

These little girls are my son's. He wanted to raise chicks from the beginning so we got them when they were just days old.

We were hoping that everyone would be use to each other for the fall and able to stay in the coop happily together, especially for the up coming winter when they remain in the coop and do not venture out (even when offered....the girls are all princesses!!)

We really do not want to place an addition onto the coop or alter the run...we just built it 16 months ago.

Any suggestions or advice on how to handle this problem would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Believe it or not, it is possible for silkies to be at the top of the pecking order in a mixed flock such as yours. I have had that happen. However, when they are still young as yours are, they are not so willing to stand up for themselves.

I like to say to people that the optimal time for flock integration is at 16 weeks, however, with silkies they are bantams, so they have that size difference. Since your Wyandottes and Lavs have decided to not play nice, I would definitely give them some more time to grow up before reintroducing.

It would also possibly help to add the nicest large fowl chicken you have to the silkie group for a week or so before integrating again, so they are not the only "new" chickens. However, I would NOT do that now since they are aggressive right now to your silkies.

You mention they like to live in the coop during the winter. This could be a bad situation if there is not enough room in the coop.

Large fowl DO like to peck bantams on the roost at night, even if they "get along" during the day. Bantams should have plenty of space in the coop to get away from the large fowl. I have just broken down and moved my silkies away to another coop before. I don't have any right now. Unless the silkies grow up with the large fowl it can be challenging to integrate them if the older hens are aggressive.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Mixing large fowl and bantam in the same coop is a bad idea, especially silkies, they will be picked on a lot, and as you found out pecking in the head can mess them up, some silkies have domed skulls. My Bantam and large fowl free range in the same area but the bantam go back to their run a lot of the times, I think unfortunately you should figure out some separate housing, silkies are tender and can't always see, please don't put them with the large chickens, as I don't think the outcome will be something you like, sorry.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I've had it go both ways and I agree 100% that you have to protect your Silkies. As to how delicate they are depends on the bird...I've had some pretty plucky Silkies, but only at full size, never as smaller juveniles.

In earlier days, my bantams got hazed so much that I just kept them in a separate coop/run that I have for my broodies, especially my Silkies, as they look so different that they tend to get hazed even more.

BUT, it really depends on the chemistry of your flock...and that is something you can manipulate. I decided to get rid of those birds that are overly aggressive with my banties, while protecting my banties, such that, now I can integrate them when I need to...that has made life much more flexible for me as I can now use my broody hutch as a grow out pen for heat brooded chicks rather than just my banty brooded chicks....and amazingly it only took the removal of one "king pin" to settle the whole flock towards the banties.

However, I did not just dump my banties into the main flock, even after getting rid of the worst offender. I carefully introduced my 3 broodies WITH their larger, almost grown "babies" as a sub flock. And...I introduced them in stages, using a fence to fence observation (I have a gating system that allows for segregation when I need it) then inter-mingled with open free range, separate night time, until I could open the main run even at night...however, my banties still sleep in the left coop with their now grown babies while the main flock is in the main coop. Life has been pretty good.

In time, my grow outs will integrate into the flock, and I will put my banties back into the broody hutch area to start a new cycle of babies...letting them free range only when babies are big enough that mom and babies make a sub flock again.

Your Silkies are simply too young to integrate into your main flock. 16 weeks is the earliest I will integrate into the main flock, and full grown with banties...the birds have to be at least 3/4 size otherwise they get hazed too much, and there has to be lots of room, and hiding places, and feeders on opposite ends of the run and yard so that nobody is hazed off of food or water.

Keep a close eye, then remove those who are too aggressive EVEN if it is the most favorite layer if you want integration...you have a choice...to integrate the flock or keep segregated birds.

While pecking order is natural, it can be carried out with a lot of harmless posturing, foot chasing, and sqawking...then settles within a day or two. If birds are being penned down and pounded on, if blood is drawn, that is too aggressive and I personally choose to remove those birds from my flock in order to create a harmonious flock for all.

One last tip...do be aware that if you have hawk predation, banties are an easy target, espeically Silkies...they move slower and don't see as well. You will need to provide for their protection for that as well.

LofMc