Flock of three meets new hens. HELP!

[Messipaw]

Hi all. I have a question on introducing new hens to one another. We have an established egg laying small flock of three red stars. They are great. Fast learners and friendly. They are coop and pen access while we are at work and we free range them when we get home. They have never pecked each other at all. I have never noticed a mark or feather missing. We decided to expand our flock by four. We adopted 3 barred rocks and 1 easter egger from a local farm. All the hens are about the same age range. 18-22 weeks old. We noticed tonight that the four new members who do not have their beaks trimmed are missing the feathers above their tails. I'm not happy about this. We gave the four new members the coop that housed our original flock of red stars. We moved our red stars to a hutch for now. We need to finish the larger pen ASAP. This rain is killing us. Was this the wrong thing to do. Please advise. Thank you.

 

[Judy]

It's normal for chickens to peck each other to establish and maintain their pecking order. It's not necessarily hard enough to cause a wound or any feather loss; it's just to send a message. I take it your first hens have trimmed beaks, since you say the new ones don't. I imagine this is why you don't see any pecking. It is quite possible it hurts your original ones to peck.

No one can really tell you what is the right thing to do. I have no idea what usually happens when you mix birds with trimmed and untrimmed beaks. You could try the more conservative approach of keeping them side by side for about a month, so they can see and hear each other but not get at each other, as, separated by chicken wire. Then mix the flocks and observe, and let them work out their pecking order unless you see blood.

 

[Messipaw]

Thank you. I'm going to try everything. Ty again.