Existing flock attacking new chicks

[Mrs. K]

Every time you take them out, you are in a do over.

What you need is a safety zone where the chicks can come out of and retreat as needed. Make one way gates or a fence line where the chicks can fit through and the biddies cannot. A pallet box would work well for that age I think.

When you get it built, let the old girls out. Put the babies in the safe zone, sit down there with them. When a couple come out, give a mock chase, so that they realize that is the safe zone. Or wrap that in chicken wire, and leave them there two or three days, then take the wire off. They will realize that is their safe zone.

Mrs K

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Do you have room in your coop to put the cage in there? Like all day and night? I had my littles locked in there for a few days, lowest on the pecking order was not happy, lol... then I propped the door so only the littles could go in and out. They stuck mostly to the coop for a couple more days then started darting in and out of the run. Besides a little chasing nothing major, then one night they were up roosting with the bigs. I took their safe house out the following weekend.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/change-of-plans.1454019/

 

[Ridgerunner]

the coop and run are large enough for 12-14 chickens and they have a large fenced "backyard" that they can access from a door off the run so space I don't think is a factor.

In feet or meters how big is that "enough for 12 - 14 chickens"? By my count 9 + 4 equals 13 and integration often takes more room than they need once they are integrated. Also, it is not just pure square feet per chicken, the quality of the room makes a difference. Can they break the line of sight or are they always in eyesight of each other. Photos could help. And how big is that cage?

They got attacked a bit but it seemed normal from what I have read. The second day of them together, I put them together in the coop at night. Everything seemed fine. Next day, same thing. Again at night put them together. Next morning still not bad, Reds kept to them selves and the little ones kept together, little pecking here and there. I left for work and had a friend check on them. He found the Reds chasing and fighting the little one very aggressively. Then 3 of the Reds pinned the little one down and was full on pecking, ripping feathers out and looked like they were ready to kill her.

I'm not sure what happened to change things. One way chickens live together is that when there is conflict the weaker runs away if they can. They usually learn very quickly to avoid the stronger. I often see this when integrating younger chicks, which I usually do by 5 weeks. If the younger invades the personal space of an elder they often get pecked. Each flock is different, some allow more intermingling than others, but it usually doesn't take long for the younger to form a sub-flock and avoid the older ones day and night. I have over 3,000 square feet outside and weather they can be outside all day every day when they are young so it is easy for them to avoid during the day. My 8'x12' coop has several hiding places and different places they can sleep so they can avoid the elders as they are settling in to sleep. In the morning it is usual to see the younger up on the adult roost while the adults are on the coop floor, a easy way for them to avoid. When I have an even younger third group of chicks they may be hiding under my lower nests which are just off the coop floor, avoiding the adults and the older chicks.

I'll repeat. It's not just a square feet thing, the quality of that room is important.

they have a large fenced "backyard" that they can access from a door off the run so space I don't think is a factor.

What this looks like could be interesting too.

Then 3 of the Reds pinned the little one down and was full on pecking, ripping feathers out and looked like they were ready to kill her.

With conflict, when a weaker one cannot get away the stronger doesn't know it won and keeps attacking, usually going for the head as that is where they can more easily kill it. The weaker often hunches down and tries to protect its head. When this happens there is real danger of serious injury or death. From what I've seen it's usually just one hen attacking but sometimes the others join in, sort of a mob frenzy.

I wasn't there to see it so I could be wrong, but what it sounds like to me is that one of the chicks got caught against a wall or fence and could not get to that door off the run or to some other safe place to get away.

So what can you do? If we knew better what you are working with we might be better able to offer specific suggestions. Adding clutter to give hiding places and escape routes might help. Having widely scattered feeding and watering stations can help. Housing them across wire for longer time periods might help though it is interesting that they were OK for a couple of days before this problem. Something happened to set them off and it could happen again.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I am adding on to the run, and both flocks will have 50-60% more room in their respective areas. The littles were hatched June 5th, so if they lay, it will be early November, or more likely, next spring. I can keep them separate as long as necessary. Any suggestions as to how long that will be?

I think worst case scenario you're looking at putting them together once the run is expanded. Ideally you'd want for the adults to start losing interest in the babies before they begin mingling, but after 3 weeks of exposure I'd expect them to be close to that point anyhow.

 

[Sally PB]

I think worst case scenario you're looking at putting them together once the run is expanded. Ideally you'd want for the adults to start losing interest in the babies before they begin mingling, but after 3 weeks of exposure I'd expect them to be close to that point anyhow.

I plan to keep them separate for at least a couple weeks after I get the new space finished. They will have more room, and there will be a longer border fence between them. I'm also collecting "clutter" for the run.

We had planned to do this addition shortly after we got the chicks, but a lot of things intervened.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I plan to keep them separate for at least a couple weeks after I get the new space finished. They will have more room, and there will be a longer border fence between them. I'm also collecting "clutter" for the run.

I think by the time you're ready to let them meet without a fence in the middle, they should really be well acclimated just from being exposed to each other for so long, so I anticipate that integration should go fairly smoothly, especially with extra clutter and space to utilize.

 

[Sally PB]

especially with extra clutter and space to utilize.

The run is going from about 90 sf to 150 sf for 7 birds. (Leaving myself room for some chicken math next year?)

 

[Iluveggers]

The run is going from about 90 sf to 150 sf for 7 birds. (Leaving myself room for some chicken math next year?)

Smart move lol.

 

[Swbertrand1]

We integrate new chicks slowly when they're very young, but we do it a bit differently:

From as early as about 2 weeks old (when the spring temperatures permit), we put them in a temporary run close to the adults for several hours per day. As they get a bit older, maybe 4-5 weeks of age, we'll let them "free-range" with the adults in our fenced back yard for a few hours in the late afternoon/early evening under close supervision. At night, they're back to the brooder indoors. Yes, it's a fair amount of shuffling chicks, but they seem to do really well with it.

We repeat this until they're old enough (about 9-10 weeks old) to move to their own portion of the coop and run. Our coop is divided with separate entry doors, and separate runs. Over the preceding weeks, they've gotten used to the coop, so when it's time to move them to the coop, they're already pretty familiar with it.

Free-ranging in the evening is monitored until they're about 4-5 months old (large enough to protect themselves) while they still have their own portion of the coop and run. Once they have shown they're ok with the adults over several months of evenings together, we remove the coop and run dividers and let them fully mix with the adults at all times of the day.

Like I said, it's a lot of work shuffling them in and out during the day, but we have a happy flock where everyone knows everybody and squabbles are minimal...