Help! Pullets are balkanized into two groups.

[Buzzking]

So my family recently bought chickens, four wyandottes, and four new hampshires. The new hampshires are about 6 weeks old and the wyandottes are about a week older. They were both raised separately in two bins as young chicks, and we put them in their coop about 3 weeks ago.

They have a big run, enough for 12 chickens with food on both sides. The problem is, is that the wyandottes bully the new hampshires away from the water and food almost any time they see them, and if there are new hampshires even close to them they peck them.
And there doesn't seem to be a pecking order within those two groups, the only pecking order is how the wyandottes always pick on the new hampshires. The new hampshires never fight back, and we've had to make sure they're getting enough to eat or drink because they're a bit smaller than the wyandottes were at their age.
Is this worrisome, and if so is there any way to fix this?

 

[aart]

They were 6 and 7 weeks when you got them?
You got them the same day and put them into the coop and run all together?
Do they roost in the coop together at night?

How big is the coop and run, in feet by feet?
Dimensions and pics would help immensely here.

 

[Mrs. K]

Add a bunch of clutter to your run. If you have some, add more. You need ladders, roosts, platforms or pallets up on bricks, pallets leaned against the wall. Chairs, mini walls made out of cardboard or plywood. Totes, or boxes can also be had. Too many runs are just a wide open rectangle, with nearly no use of the vertical space. By adding clutter that the birds can get up on, or underneath or behind, you make it look kind of junky - but much more interesting to the chickens.

You want to set it up, so that birds can get out of sight from each other. So that when a bird is eating at one sight, they are out of sight from any bird eating at another site. Try to have several feeding sites - each kind of hidden. I try and have about one for every 3-5 birds. But if you think someone is not getting food - add more.

Mrs K

 

[Buzzking]

We got them the day after they were born, and they do roost together. Surprisingly though they don't fight in the coop at night. The feeding spots aren't hidden, and there isn't enough interesting stuff in the coop so I think that is the problem.


Edit: Up to date pictures

 

[aart]

The feeding spots aren't hidden, and there isn't enough interesting stuff in the coop so I think that is the problem.

Yep, changing those things could help.
Your run looks a bit small for 8 birds.

 

[Buzzking]

I think there's around 70 square feet in there, which should be more than enough for 8 chickens. I could be wrong though.

 

[rosemarythyme]

10 sq ft in the run is the recommended minimum, though many of us advise for more, partially because minimum still doesn't seem to be enough for many birds, and also because lack of space makes it very difficult to add needed clutter to help break line of sight to reduce bullying issues.

Here's Mrs. K's thread on clutter, for examples: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/

 

[Buzzking]

Alright, so I added some clutter to the run and hid the feeders and water a bit and it worked very well somehow. The wyandottes aren't pecking at the new hampshires every time they try and eat or drink and I've even observed new hampshires eating right next to wyandottes. Maybe they were just bored?

 

[aart]

Maybe they were just bored?

Hard to say....could just be time, but the distractions of a 'cluttered' run can break bad habits.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Happy to hear the changes helped!