help!!!!

[finn9927]

i have 4 hens a jerseyblack giant black autrolorp white leghorn and a white silkie we also have 3 chicks that are about 3 months it is time for us to put the chickes in the coop with the hens but everytime we le the baby chicks in the coop so they can get used to staying in there the white leghorn and white silkie attak them what do we need to do so they stop attaking the chicks stay in a brooder box until they can go int he coop

 

[blondiebee181]

i have 4 hens a jerseyblack giant black autrolorp white leghorn and a white silkie we also have 3 chicks that are about 3 months it is time for us to put the chickes in the coop with the hens but everytime we le the baby chicks in the coop so they can get used to staying in there the white leghorn and white silkie attak them what do we need to do so they stop attaking the chicks stay in a brooder box until they can go int he coop

Okay, you CANNOT just throw new chickens in with others willy-nilly whether they are young or old. A period of slow integration is necessary. Did you raise the chicks from day-olds? If so you probably don't need to worry about diseases transferring from the babies to the elders, but do be wary and attentive for anything that may come from your already existing flock.

You must creat a seperate pen that is located near your existing flock to put the new ones so that everyone can see each other but not be able to get to each other. It is natural for older birds to bully young or new ones and probably even your 3-month chicks are not big enough to contend with your others. You need to put the new ones in the seperate pen within sight of your others for a while and then if you have a large free-range space, you can let everyone out to have SUPERVISED free-range time together, you want to be around to monitor things for a while in case your olders get nasty.
If there are just a few dominance pecks involved where an older approaches a younger, pecks it and them runs back off, then you should not interfere. This is the olders establishing the pecking order with the youngers. BUT if they approach and start attacking and not letting up, you will need to interfere. Once they can free range together for a few days and things seem to be going okay, try putting them in the run together. Make sure you have a few seperate feeders and water stations so no one is fighting over food. Monitor carefully is key. It is also best to put new chickens in the coop at night when all the others have gone to roost and are settled for the night.

 

[blondiebee181]

But I would start out with letting everyone together during the day and still bringing your new ones in for the night with you for a week first. I wouldn't put them into the coop together until they are used to each other more.

 

[finn9927]

i do that every day and they ahve a pen in the coop its been in their for abou a month and they just wont get along\

 

[lucy7]

I would put up a fenced in area and put the chicks inside that untill the others are comfortable with the chicks.Make sure its tall enough so the chickens cant fly in. Good luck

 

[ChickensRDinos]

No matter what you do they are not going to get along at first. you really can only hope to improve it. Chickens have a pecking order that is established through some level of violence. What do you mean by "attack" ? Some pecking and intimidation is normal and if you jump to their rescue the second it starts they do not establish their normal social behavior.

I would work on integrating them slowly with careful observation but not a lot of intervention on your part unless the attacks are causing injury. Intervene if there is blood and separate immediately. If the older birds are keeping the younger birds from eating you may want to add a second feeder. They need time to work it out.

Also, make sure everyone has enough room in the coop and on the roost. Overcrowding makes bullying a lot worse.

 

[blondiebee181]

No matter what you do they are not going to get along at first. you really can only hope to improve it. Chickens have a pecking order that is established through some level of violence. What do you mean by "attack" ? Some pecking and intimidation is normal and if you jump to their rescue the second it starts they do not establish their normal social behavior.

I would work on integrating them slowly with careful observation but not a lot of intervention on your part unless the attacks are causing injury. Intervene if there is blood and separate immediately. If the older birds are keeping the younger birds from eating you may want to add a second feeder. They need time to work it out.

Also, make sure everyone has enough room in the coop and on the roost. Overcrowding makes bullying a lot worse.

X2 on this....unless there is real damage going on, they need to peck and establish their order....yes keep observing and evaluating progress and add more feed and water stations. Integration does take time, trust me. I have integrated chickens and ducks in with my original flock. The hardest was my 2 ducks. I got them in July and at 8 weeks I was putting them out with the hens. There was some tormenting at first and pecking, it was kind of heartbreaking and worrisome of course but now everyone is established and gets along great and the ducks found their courage as they got older, they are 3 months old now and everyone is good but up until about 3-4 weeks ago even there was still some attitudes (namely from my RIR, who for some reason had the worst temper towards them of the chickens) Good luck, keep us posted if you get really worried about anything.