Help, adding new birds NOT going well......

[ckneggfarmer]

last week i picked up 5 new golden comets, they said they were about 13 weeks old and i should be fine just adding them after dark. i ended up putting them in a cage in the coop with the others (red sex links and leghorns about 24 weeks) to let them get to know each other. i let them out after about 5 days and thought they were doing okay until yesterday..... the 5 little ones were hiding in the corner behind a bin. today i went out and one of the little ones had missing tail feathers and was dead and the others were pecking at her like crazy. the others were up on the roost huddled together. i took them out and have them seperated. what do i do now????????????

 

[farmer boy]

i wouldn't add them back wait until their older then try it ... once they see blood then its gang up time ... i have some new ones but their staying inside for a while they are fancy birds and nice .. houdans and polish so i want them to be really safe but take it slow don't thorw them in or anything let them get older to let them outside with the big hens and roos

 

[blondiebee181]

Farmer Boy may be on to something, I would also do what you started with a lot. Keep the newbies seperate in their own pen where they and your others can still see each other and get used to having each other around. But they can't get at each other to peck and pick on. Especially Leghorns tend to be aggressive and more so I have heard in groups. They are like the mafia. It will be a gradual process. Also if you have the means and it is warm enough, putting your newbies close to the others' sleeping quarters so again, they can see and hear each other.

 

[LiLChicken]

A chicken farmer I know told me this when I asked him about adding to my flock "to wait till they are all the same size then at night with a freshly cleaned coop spray vinegar all over and on the flock then spray the birds you want to add and put them in the coop".