Dysfunctional Flock

[MadShananigans]

I have 3 hens that are 1 year and 3 months old and integrated a new flock of 6 pullets a little over a month ago when they were 8-10 weeks old. They co-exist and the chasing and pecking from older hens has lessened some, but they still act as 2 flocks that sleep in the same coop. They won’t roost side by side, they won’t eat together, etc. We added a roost divider because the big girls were pecking the littles til they jumped off or fell off if they got too close. (This is coming down this weekend as the littles need more space now.) They run them off from food and chase them if they get too close. When they all free-range, they do so as 2 separate flocks. What can I do to make them stop the “mean girl” behavior and let the littles be part of the flock? Is it just a time thing? Once they’re laying, will they be accepted? Any advice on how to speed things up?

 

[sourland]

It's all part of the normal pecking order integration process - it takes time. As long as they are getting adequate feed and water and blood is not being drawn, I would not intercede.

 

[Ridgerunner]

What you are describing sounds like what I typically expect. Until my pullets start laying the older girls outrank them and will often peck them if they invade their personal space. It doesn't take long for the younger ones to learn to avoid the older ones during the day and at night. Once they start laying they are accepted into the flock but until then it is usually two separate flocks.

It sounds like your coop may be fairly small. Mine is not but the hens typically will not let the chicks sleep on the main roosts. You can sometimes find exceptions but often those exceptions are when you have a lot of room. I personally don't care where mine sleep at night as long as it is not in my nests and is somewhere predator safe. I go through this so regularly that I put up a separate roosts for the juveniles that is higher than the nests, lower than the main roosts, and horizontally separated from the main roosts. It is actually over my nests. It doesn't bother me if they sleep on the floor but my nests are pretty tempting if they can't get to the main roosts.

 

[MadShananigans]

Good to hear! We expect most of them to start laying within the next month or so.

The coop is actually fairly large and the top roost alone is definitely enough space for all 9 hens. We initially separated it so that the original 3 had their usual space and the other 2/3 of the roost could be for the new girls, but the big girls flip-flopped on us and started using the larger side so the new girls got stuck with sharing 1/3 that roosting bar. It was fine the first couple weeks, but they’ve grown so much that they’re crowded now. None of them will even consider the lower roosting bars as an alternative for more space. We’re removing the separation tomorrow so they can spread out, but I was just worrying over them being accessible to big hen pecks again.