Had 6 Plymouth Rocks fox got one... 5 chickens 6months old

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FirefFly

FirefFly

In the Brooder
Oct 3, 2019
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My husband and I have always wanted chickens ever since we got married and bought our new house. We purchased a chicken coop and fixed it up making sure that it is predator safe. We got six Plymouth rock hands as chicks and hand raised them until they were big enough to go into the coop. They are now six months old and very happy laying eggs almost daily. We don’t have any roosters thank goodness. We are new to the whole chicken world and have many questions.

My husband is home every night. I travel three days a week usually away from home. So we were thinking that it would be no problem to have chickens. Now that they’re laying eggs he collects them every morning before he goes to work.

After reading some posts after googling questions we had I found the articles here are the best that’s why I joined BYC.

Here is our first big question;

We recently purchased a bantam chicken who just started laying eggs so she’s approximately five months old. She laid an egg her first morning with us. We did have her with the rest of the girls in the coop we introduced her at night. Everything seemed to go very well until we let them free range together and two of our chickens beat her up. So I created a separate area in the run where they can see each other but not attack each other. It’s only been about a week that we’ve had her and the last five days being separated. It seems like two of our chickens just want to kill her. I did read that I should just let them have it out but I’m afraid because they are so big and she’s so small that they really will kill her. Any advice would be great. Maybe I should just let my husband let them duke it out....
Thanks and buwack
 

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Do not let them duke it out, they can seriously injure each other. Continue the look but don't touch introduction longer. It can be harder with just one hen, and then she is smaller to boot. Let them decide how long it takes, could be weeks, or longer, or never. Make sure when you do let her out, that she has plenty of hiding places, and have multiple feed and water stations, so she isn't always chased away from those.
 
Hello and welcome to BYC! :frow Glad you joined.
Yes, letting them "duke it out" has a high probability of this resulting in the death of the bantam.
It's now too late to quarantine her so that is out.
Can you get a second bantam from the same place you got the first? Having 1 bantam trying to integrate into a flock of PBRs is asking an awful lot. PBRs are pretty dominant birds.
You will have to leave the bantam(s) in the "look don't touch" arrangement for several weeks until things have calmed down a bit.
You also need A LOT of space for a successful integration. How big is your coop? How much roosting space do you have in inches? How big is your run? Do you have multiple feed and water stations? Are their various height perches in the run? Are there places to get out of sight of the PBRs in the run?
 
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:frow Hi there! Welcome! I agree with the other posters about not letting the bantam take her chances. I have found young hens to be the most ruthless with newcomers, and I so far have only introduced them in groups equal to the existing flock. Seems to work out better for me, I have a flock of 6, 3 new pullets this summer. Either get a few more or rehome her to a safer place, she is just darling and it would break your heart to have those thugs tear her up. Those lovely egg producing thugs! Good luck!
 

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