Fighting in coop

[first time farmer]

When i put my new girls in the coop with my old girls I know there will be some fighting, but what do i do just let the fight or step in?

 

[Snakeoil]

I just let them decide the pecking order.

 

[first time farmer]

Thank you. I want to be prepared for when i get my new babies.

 

[gritsar]

If the new girls aren't about the same size as the older girls, I'd keep them seperated where they can see but not get to each other first.
Once you put them together you can expect some fighting, but if they aren't drawing blood I'd let them sort it out.

 

[Ellie_NY_chick]

I'm going through this right now. I have some pullets that I hatched out in December, and they've been separated by wire inside the house and had a separate outside run. They're still much smaller than my full grown birds, but I've started opening the door between the two on the inside during the day. That way there's plenty of room to run and hide if they need to.

So far, so good. They've gotten too close to my two broodies a couple of times and gotten a peck for that, but they're otherwise okay. I'm watching the big roosters, because they're the ones who can really do some damage. They mostly are just staying on their own side and the big birds are coming over every once in awhile.

Last time I integrated younger birds in it only took about two weeks brfore they were all one big happy flock.

 

[HenSpa]

I'm dealing with the same issue. What should I expect from integrating 5 pullets in with my 2 grown hens and rooster, in a chicken tractor situation (where they're all penned in together)?

We are building an extra, larger attached run to give them more breathing space, just in case (although my coop can hold eight). But I'm worried about the rooster and his, ahem, expectations of them. Advice?

 

[cmom]

Quote:
I did more or less the same thing, only I had two coops. I added another pop door to the coop that I wanted all of the birds to be in. When the chicks were about 18 weeks old I switched coops. I put the pullets in the hens house and the hens in the pullets coop. I shut the runs so that they had to go into the coops. I left them switched around for a week. After a week I opened the runs so the all had access to both coops. For the nest week I let them roost in whatever coop they wanted. Surprisingly there were pullets and hens mixed in each coop at night. I left the coops open to all for a week and let them roost in the coop of their choice. The following week I shut the pop door to the pullets coop. They all went in to the hens house and roosted with a little squabbling. Actually it went smoother than I expected. There are pictures on my BYC Page.