HELP ME!!! Introduction Question?

[crazygoatlady915]

For a while there, I thought I had the nicest bunch of hens, really welcoming and kind to new chicks, but I was wrong!!

Me and a friend traded chickens, and what she gave me: a 19 week old Australorp hen. Who is currently getting her tail whipped by my EVIL hens! Also 18-21 weeks old! If It helps, she is in the coop with the Barred Rocks, the RIRs and the Araucana.

I have had so much success with the 'roost by night' thing, I'm shocked! What should I do???
Right now, she is in a separate box, within the enclosure, and they are swarming around the box and jumping on it!!

HELP!

 

[j3707]

I recently introduced several younger bantams into a coop of older standard size pullets. The banties got picked on for a good while, but they had good hiding spaces and after several weeks the bullying and chasing nearly stopped.

Do you have hiding spots for your new hen?

 

[juliawitt]

I always do a slow integration of new girls with the old. I place new girls in an area of my coop I refer to as my brooder box. It is an enclosed area where the new girl can see the old girls but no one can touch. I leave them in this area for 2 to 3 weeks. I will close the coop to the old girls and let the new have the run of the coop for a few hours each day, so the new girls know where the food and water is. Then, I start letting the new girls out with the old girls only when I can watch. I keep a squirt bottle of water handy and anyone who acts aggresive gets a big squirt of water. I do this for two or three days. Often, by the end of the third day, they are integrated. I never just 'put' them together. Putting them together too quickly means that no one has had a chance to talk through the fence to iron out personal issues and the new hens don't know the coop well enough to know how to get away or the hiding places available. Slow integration is the best way to avoid pecking problems. It also gives you a chance to watch the new girls to make certain no one is ill. Good Luck! Sorry about your girl. Keep her seperate until she is healed up, and them try putting her back in with the flock slowly and watch for aggressive behaviour.

 

[Highlander]

Adding a single chicken to a coop of established birds rarely works in my experience. Safety in numbers is the key but if that is not an option then a slow steady integration as the other posters have said is your best option.