How can I tell if my pullet wants to kill my chicks

[Missys Chicken Ranch]

I have my run split so I can bring my chicks outside without them being with my other pullet and rooster. The pullet is really interested in the chicks but she already pecked one through the fencing...my question is...how can I tell if she is just interested or wants to kill them? What are some signs/behaviors?
Thanks!

 

[sourland]

Big chickens pick at little chickens. I would not attempt to integrate them until the chicks are bigger.

 

[Missys Chicken Ranch]

Big chickens pick at little chickens. I would not attempt to integrate them until the chicks are bigger.

I am not trying to integrate them yet. And won't until they are bigger. I was just curious of behaviors.

 

[Lizzy733]

You could pick her up and hold her nearby the chicks with no barrier between them and see if she is actively trying to go for them.

I did this with my hens one by one to see if anyone would be a problem when integrating with a broody and I was able to find out the troublemakers that way. You just need to be ready to hold her back, cause they can 'really go for it' with that barrier down.

With small babies and no broody, plan a few weeks of see-but-dont-touch in a high traffic area.

I've had my 3 wk olds outside for most of the past two days set up in a pen smack middle of the run. They're well feathered for being so young and it's been quite warm recently, which helps. The 3 big girls are 'very' interested at the moment. The 'most' interested girl keeps puffing up like a turkey while making a show of preening herself in front of them and I can't help but think she's throwing her weight around.

She does peck at them quite slow and deliberately through the fence. I think she kinda has it out for the boys as they tend to want to peck back a bit. Looks like they're sorting things out tho.

 

[3KillerBs]

Here are some useful articles on integration:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/integrating-new-birds-at-4-weeks-old.72603/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/my-coop-brooder-and-integration.74591/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/introducing-new-chickens-using-the-“see-but-don’t-touch”-method.67839/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/adding-to-your-flock.47756/

I've had very good luck with the see-don't-touch period of a 7-14 days and a generous amount of clutter and hiding places. Here are my threads for 3 different integrations:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/setting-up-an-integration-facility.1496470/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/introducing-the-ideal-dozen.1469451/post-24637966 (starting with this post)

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/integrating-the-splits-documenting-the-process.1469700/

I've currently got 6-week-old chicks mixing freely with the adults -- thanks to over-sized facilities and advice from the experienced people here.

Two of the babies even slept with the cockerel and a POL pullet last night.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I'd expect her to be interested and I'd expect her to peck at them. How long have the chicks been visible to her, and is that all day or only for an hour at a time?

When she shows diminished interest, and at least a week or two have elapsed, that'd be a good time to let them have access to each other with you around to supervise. I do not step in unless there's an actual need for it - a hen pecking a chick once or twice isn't cause for concern. A hen chasing down, cornering, physically hurting a chick is.

 

[The WinterWolf]

I have my run split so I can bring my chicks outside without them being with my other pullet and rooster. The pullet is really interested in the chicks but she already pecked one through the fencing...my question is...how can I tell if she is just interested or wants to kill them? What are some signs/behaviors?
Thanks!

my chickens used to pick on my younger chicks. still do. if you are worried about it, put a barrier between them

 

[3KillerBs]

my chickens used to pick on my younger chicks. still do. if you are worried about it, put a barrier between them

Picking on them a little to put them in their place is normal.

If there's no blood drawn and everyone still has the ability to eat and drink then it's fine.

 

[Isadora]

The difference is that the older birds are actively and aggressively going after them, rather than giving them a peck on the head if they get too close. That's how it's been in my experience.

 

[Lizzy733]

The difference is that the older birds are actively and aggressively going after them, rather than giving them a peck on the head if they get too close. That's how it's been in my experience.

Take longer to integrate - make sure it's near where the hens will spend most of the day so they're in constant contact - integrate in larger numbers. It really is the more the merrier with integration. My broody +2 chicks fared worse than my broody +7 chicks. (we only kept one from each of those hatches). Broody + 7 integrated before 3 weeks and were mostly ignored though both those integrations were in the same year, so maybe my girls were more used to how things go by then.
My POL pullet I brought in the year after was fine integrating on her own as she was bigger and is quite an agile girl.
In my experience, the biggest challenge is roosting. They can get used to one another in the run, but when it comes to lights out, they can be brutal bullies, so keep an eye out the first few nights together as they may kick the babies off the roosts.
You may need to step in to stop squabbles and give the 'naughty' hen a sharp poke between the shoulders to tell her off - or give her a tug on the neck feathers - both are how hens tell each other off and very effective at curbing their behavior (especially if you are their rooster).

I'm only just starting integration with this hatch; there's 6 and no broody. I kinda want them running together within the next 3 weeks as we will be moving house. The shavers were always my troublemakers, but they have all passed... thinking my youngest will cause the most trouble as she's the most interested in the babies - pretty sure she's head hen at the moment.