Hey all, I have four two month old chicks, two salmon faverolles, one white crested black polish, and one silver wyandotte. I have one coop, and I need to get them living out there with my flock of three EEs, a barred rock, and a black australorp. Flock integration is not going well. They completely ignore each other when they free range, but that is not my major concern. In an attempt to start leaving my little birds outside in the coop with the big girls for the night, my BR is overly aggressive and ripped a tuft of feathers off the back of one of my SFs. There was minimal bleeding, but it is still a big issue. My little birds are too big to be living in my garage brooder, and I only want to buy a new additional coop as a very last resort. I need to make this work, but I don't know how to make this integration go smoothly. In the coop, I have given the smaller birds a little hiding space where only they can fit, and have shown it to them on multiple occasions but they do not use it. I do not want to come home to dead birds because my BR has either pecked them to death, or did not let them eat or drink. My other four birds don't really seem to care that much and don't really have a problem, which is really good. Please help me out with some suggestions about what to do with my bossy BR! Anything and everything is greatly appreciated! Thanks! On a side note: I would prefer not to get a blinder for my BR hen. She is such a good, friendly girl. I just want everything to run smoothly and be able to keep her, and my four littles
How big is your coop? I always pen mine separately at night for the first month or two. If your coop is too small to divide and make an area for the young ones it's too small to add more.
How big is this space? Have you confined them to it for a length of time so they 'home' to it? Very... Good.... Point.
