Help with New Baby

[Dsauce91]

Hello Everyone!
I just added a 3 week old bantam Silkie female to my flock of chickens. The flock currently has a a 14 week old normal sized Australorp (spelling?) pullet naked Ethel, a 12 week old bantam Ameracauna pullet named Gladys, and a 6 week old bantam Plymouth pullet named Nugget.

I’ve read About introducing them slowly and I’ve seen them try to establish their pecking order, but this is something I’ve never seen. Gladys will full on attack the silkie. She will chase her, pin her down, and pluck her feathers. Of course, I only witnessed it once to know better than to let them interact anymore. The first night, I kept Gladys in a cage within the coop/run to allow the new one to feel safe (I would’ve done it reverse but the new one squeezes through the bars).

Does this still sound like normal pecking order behavior or is something worse happening? Please help, this is a first for me.
Thank you in advance

- David

 

[Weeg]

No this needs to be addressed. You know it its out of hand when she is pinning the other down. @Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive @Overo Mare

 

[Painted Calls]

Hello Everyone!
I just added a 3 week old bantam Silkie female to my flock of chickens. The flock currently has a a 14 week old normal sized Australorp (spelling?) pullet naked Ethel, a 12 week old bantam Ameracauna pullet named Gladys, and a 6 week old bantam Plymouth pullet named Nugget.

I’ve read About introducing them slowly and I’ve seen them try to establish their pecking order, but this is something I’ve never seen. Gladys will full on attack the silkie. She will chase her, pin her down, and pluck her feathers. Of course, I only witnessed it once to know better than to let them interact anymore. The first night, I kept Gladys in a cage within the coop/run to allow the new one to feel safe (I would’ve done it reverse but the new one squeezes through the bars).

Does this still sound like normal pecking order behavior or is something worse happening? Please help, this is a first for me.
Thank you in advance

- David

Tell me what your setup looks like. How have you been keeping the new bird in reference to the existing flock?

 

[Dsauce91]

It’s very odd because she’s normally the sweet one. She’s the most hand tame and came from the same breeder and she immediately buddied up with Nugget, the smaller Plymouth.

 

[Dsauce91]

Tell me what your setup looks like. How have you been keeping the new bird in reference to the existing flock?

EDITED

i have an 8ft x 2ft x 4ft run that includes a built in elevated coop. There are branches and things to climb on as well as a couple toys and, of course food and water dish. They also have a large fenced in yard I built around the run that they spend around 5 hours a day in.

EDIT:
So far, I’ve been keeping the new one separate in the coop to make sure she gets food and water while the other ones share the run. The current group hasn’t been using their coop much. I let the new one in the yard with them as well so I can monitor any interactions

 

[Painted Calls]

Where has the Silkie been kept?

 

[Painted Calls]

So they have "look but can't touch" access to her?

How long have they been sharing divided space?

 

[Dsauce91]

So they have "look but can't touch" access to her?

How long have they been sharing divided space?

Right now, they can’t see her when she’s in the coop. Only in the yard. I haven’t had her long, only a couple days. The behavior just seemed very aggressive to me.

 

[Painted Calls]

I had a feeling it hadn't been long.

For future reference, you should always quarantine new birds away from your flock for at least (very minimum) 2 weeks.

Integration usually takes weeks. Sometimes months. Ideally, everyone should be able to interact, but not touch, during the entire time. All that happened here is that you tried too soon.

Is there any way you can keep her in the run and them in the yard (or the other way around) during the day? At night everyone can be returned to their original places.

 

[Dsauce91]

I had a feeling it hadn't been long.

For future reference, you should always quarantine new birds away from your flock for at least (very minimum) 2 weeks.

Integration usually takes weeks. Sometimes months. Ideally, everyone should be able to interact, but not touch, during the entire time. All that happened here is that you tried too soon.

Is there any way you can keep her in the run and them in the yard (or the other way around) during the day? At night everyone can be returned to their original places.

When they’re in the yard, I can keep her in the run. unfortunately I can’t leave them in the yard alone because it’s not fully enclosed. I do have a space in the run that I could put up some chicken wire temporarily so she is safely behind it and they can see her but not touch her. Would that work alright in the run for them?