Help, guidance, advice.

[Kd90]

I'll try to make it short and sweet.

We've had our 4 main girls since last Spring. This spring, we got 6 more chicks. One we lost to illness pretty early on, but the rest have been healthy. We put them out with our OG hens, and two days later one of our dogs dug a hole to let them out and killed all but one. We call her our sweetie girl, she let's us hold her and will hang out. But now if we try to put her with the OG hens, they attack her BAD. Nit just a couple pecks, but they go after her. So we put her in a dog kennel inside the coop because we got more chicks so we don't have room in the house.

My question is, will I ever be able to integrate her in with the OG hens once she grows a little more (she still a little small)?

 

[SilverBirds]

How old is the little chick? It will take time for the other chickens to accept her. Especially if she is really little. Very sorry about your other chicks

 

[Kd90]

How old is the little chick? It will take time for the other chickens to accept her. Especially if she is really little. Very sorry about your other chicks

She's around 14 weeks old. Too old to be in with the chicks but still smaller than the older girls. Should I wait till she's same size to try and put her back in?

 

[SilverBirds]

She is old enough to start integrating with the big hens. It'll take time for them to accept her as they have to establish the pecking order (which is who is in charge). It's four against one so she'll be picked on extra. If just placing her inside isn't working, you can try the see but don't touch method. This is where you put the chick where the big birds can see her but they can't get to her. If you have a dog kennel that would work fine. Let them see for about a week or so and try letting her out again and see how they react.

 

[Kd90]

She is old enough to start integrating with the big hens. It'll take time for them to accept her as they have to establish the pecking order (which is who is in charge). It's four against one so she'll be picked on extra. If just placing her inside isn't working, you can try the see but don't touch method. This is where you put the chick where the big birds can see her but they can't get to her. If you have a dog kennel that would work fine. Let them see for about a week or so and try letting her out again and see how they react.

I've had her in a dog kennel inside the coop for 2 weeks. Today I let her out, and they attacked her pretty hard core. One even got in the dog kennel and attacked her inside that.

 

[SilverBirds]

You need to give them a chance to establish the order. It's part of the way things work. They'll chase her down, pull feathers, and may draw a little blood from her comb. They'll just have to work it out. If she is getting bloodied from more then her comb, or her comb is torn up, separate them again. Can you maybe introduce one at a time?

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Have you read this article by @azygous

Introducing a Single Hen to an Existing Flock

 

[Kd90]

You need to give them a chance to establish the order. It's part of the way things work. They'll chase her down, pull feathers, and may draw a little blood from her comb. They'll just have to work it out. If she is getting bloodied from more then her comb, or her comb is torn up, separate them again. Can you maybe introduce one at a time?

Right now it's just her that is ready to be out. The second set of chicks are still being raised in the house. Thank you everyone for your help!

 

[NatJ]

Right now it's just her that is ready to be out. The second set of chicks are still being raised in the house. Thank you everyone for your help!

How old are the chicks right now?

It might be easier to integrate the one pullet with the chicks, and then add all of them to the main flock at the same time.

 

[Iluveggers]

Yes, I’m wondering how she would be with the little chicks. If she is good with them, you could put her with them during the day, and wait to integrate them all until the chicks are big enough.