Advice needed!
I have 6 chickens who are about 9 months old. One roo and 5 hens. They get along famously and hes a great protector. In July, I received two adult chickens over a year old. A game hen and a bantam brown leghorn. For the first 30 days they had their own coop to acclimate and see the other flock.(they were right next to each other). After 30 days I started letting them free range together and then after a few times I merged the flock all into the main coop/run. The run is very large and they have plenty of space..
Just for info, the two new hens were laying about one egg a week, which I figured was just stress. At this point, 5 months later they still havent laid again. Meanwhile my slightly younger flock continued to lay quite well.
The main flock, (2 barred rocks, 2 delaware's, one EE hen and one EE rooster, did not accept them. They picked on them a lot. The leghorn doesn't really put up with shit and tends to ignore their bullying. Unfortunately, the game hen has not escaped the wrath. They do not let her eat, specifically the rooster. Of I throw down scratch, he attacks her away from every pile. In turn the other hens also treat her the same. The leghorn gets picked on but she holds her own much better. She just doesn't put up with it. The game hen runs everytime. I made two special feeders, one for the main flock, and one just for her because of this.
At one point I was fearful for her being able to eat and drink so I tried putting her in, in the middle of the night, to my second flock, who are about 18 weeks old.
This did not work. they woke up with her, but she attacked and ran at them every chance she got. So I took her out, and she ran for the old coop of meanies.
What should I do? It's been 5 months and they wont accept her, shes smaller than all of them, and even though her sister can handle the bullying, they dont like being separated.
I'm thinking at this point I need to build a new coop/run, JUST for these two. Any advice is appreciated.
I have 6 chickens who are about 9 months old. One roo and 5 hens. They get along famously and hes a great protector. In July, I received two adult chickens over a year old. A game hen and a bantam brown leghorn. For the first 30 days they had their own coop to acclimate and see the other flock.(they were right next to each other). After 30 days I started letting them free range together and then after a few times I merged the flock all into the main coop/run. The run is very large and they have plenty of space..
Just for info, the two new hens were laying about one egg a week, which I figured was just stress. At this point, 5 months later they still havent laid again. Meanwhile my slightly younger flock continued to lay quite well.
The main flock, (2 barred rocks, 2 delaware's, one EE hen and one EE rooster, did not accept them. They picked on them a lot. The leghorn doesn't really put up with shit and tends to ignore their bullying. Unfortunately, the game hen has not escaped the wrath. They do not let her eat, specifically the rooster. Of I throw down scratch, he attacks her away from every pile. In turn the other hens also treat her the same. The leghorn gets picked on but she holds her own much better. She just doesn't put up with it. The game hen runs everytime. I made two special feeders, one for the main flock, and one just for her because of this.
At one point I was fearful for her being able to eat and drink so I tried putting her in, in the middle of the night, to my second flock, who are about 18 weeks old.
This did not work. they woke up with her, but she attacked and ran at them every chance she got. So I took her out, and she ran for the old coop of meanies.
What should I do? It's been 5 months and they wont accept her, shes smaller than all of them, and even though her sister can handle the bullying, they dont like being separated.
I'm thinking at this point I need to build a new coop/run, JUST for these two. Any advice is appreciated.
