Hens acting badly

[Comet and Cheeks]

I'm not quite sure what to do- we have 5 adult hens and they're all picking on each other and the 13 babies (about 10 weeks old now). I can understand bullying the young chickens around, but all the adults have feather loss on their wings and on their backs.

Some backstory: we moved a couple months ago and decided to kill our rooster because we didn't have enough hens to go around. I tried chicken saddles, but he was getting out of control and all the hens had deep scratches on their backs. We did the kill and move within a few days.

The new coop is bigger and the ladies get to spend all day everyday free ranging. They seemed to be not as mean before the little ones arrived but now that they're all in the same coop the adults are just acting like d!@#~ to each other!

There's one who is a bit more aggressive than the rest, but I've seen almost all of them bullying each other around. It's been a while since we did the chick integration, which seemed to go really well. Now things keep going downhill. I would take out the bully for a few days but they ALL need a timeout! Any suggestions?

 

[BirdGirl2004]

Well, first and foremost...! I hope that you enjoy this site as much as the rest of us do! I have learned SOOO much from this site, and I hope that you do too!

Secondly,
I would create a "touch but din't see" pen! 10 weeks is WAAAY to young to have them intreated with the other hens! Make something that they can get acclimated with one another first!
Not sure why your chickens could have missing feathers unless they're molting? How old are they?

Good luck, hope this helps!

 

[Comet and Cheeks]

Hmmm, the little chicks and adults are actually doing fine together - sure they get pushed around a little but they're fully feathered out and about 3/4 the size of the adults. We did the introductions with a separate pen to start, then an area where the babies could escape from the hens but come and go as they please. From what I've read 10 weeks isn't too early.

As for the feather loss it doesn't look like molting to me. I've attached a picture of the worst one. She's twice as bad as the other hens.

*I forgot to clarify that it's the adults with feather loss, the babies look good and healthy. The adults are just over a year old.

 

[bobbi-j]

I think 10 weeks is fine for integration. I have integrated chicks with adults as young as 4 weeks without problems.

How big in feet by feet are your coop and run?

Is it possible that your older ones are molting already?

 

[chickens really]

You changed the dynamics of the Flock by killing the Rooster and adding in the young Birds. Just wait for the new pecking order to be set and things should calm down..
Best wishes. Also if the feed isn't high enough in protein feather pecking then can happen.

 

[aart]

I think 10 weeks is fine for integration. I have integrated chicks with adults as young as 4 weeks without problems.

How big in feet by feet are your coop and run?

Is it possible that your older ones are molting already?

Ditto All Dat^^^^
Good questions.

It's been a while since we did the chick integration, which seemed to go really well. Now things keep going downhill. I would take out the bully for a few days but they ALL need a timeout! Any suggestions?

How long is 'awhile'.

Have you tried removing the bulliest of the adults for a day or so?
Do you have another enclosure to separate?

 

[aart]

Oh...and...Welcome to BYC!

Where in this world are you located?
Climate is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, then it's always there!

 

[Comet and Cheeks]

Thanks for all your help! To answer your questions:
- Our coop is 64 square feet, and we have 18 chickens now (5 adults, 13 pullets). We're two over the recommended space but we were assuming that we would have some natural decline in numbers. Our pullets have just been so healthy! We also had to take on an extra pullet from a friend when her flock-mates were all killed in a black bear attack!
- We started the integration about 3 weeks ago and I just took out their special hiding spot yesterday because they weren't using it anymore.
- We live in Vermont and I would maybe think about moulting, but the feather loss has been this way for the past few months and hasn't changed much.
- All the chickens are eating the local brand non-gmo starter/grower pellets with oyster shells for the gals paying rent.

The ladies had some feather loss on their backs from the rooster, but the feather loss on their wings really started in April and hasn't grown back.

 

[aart]

That's tight space, especially if you partitioned off part for the chicks.
How long were chicks in coop before taking down partition?

I don't remember seeing that pic in the 3rd post before?
That's rooster wear on the wings maybe coupled with brittle feathers and may have started that way on the back and was continued by pecking.