How intense is your pecking order?

[K0k0shka]

Since you're experienced with introducing young ones... hoing you can make a suggestion of at what age to introduce and at what level of oversight? I've read to be there all day to mediate, or just to add at night and then have a space with food and water that only the young ones can enter. have 3 six-week old hens that went to sleep tonight in the big girl house on the roost along with the other 8 one-year year old hens. Wondering if I need to move them back to the young girl house since I won't be there to protect them in the am? At what age can you mix? They were in a kennel in the big girl house for 5 weeks, then in their own condo but within sight. Any suggestions appreciated. Thanks!

Age doesn't matter, as long as you follow the "see don't touch" method, which you seem to have started with, so that's great. They need to be behind a divider where the flock can see them, but not get at them, for several weeks. Then start letting them mingle with the flock, for short supervised periods at first, and increase their length every day. So if you have half an hour to spare, start with half an hour of them loose with the big girls, with you hanging around supervising. Then put them back. If that goes well, you can start increasing the time the next day, and maybe you aren't in with them the whole time, but nearby (doing yard work etc.). And so on. Eventually they'll be able to survive a whole day with the flock without your supervision.

Nighttime is trickier though, because who sleeps where is a big deal in the chicken world. That's when the pecking order gets enforced, and lower ranking chickens tend to get pushed around. It's also a tighter space inside the coop, and more likely for the newcomers to get within the elders' personal space and to piss them off. So I would wait until they can spend the day together without incidents, before you let them sleep together at night. And try to hang around nearby for their first bedtime together, just to keep an eye on things, until they settle for the night. The new ones may need help/encouragement from you, to go inside the coop for the first few nights, because they'll be apprehensive of going into an enclosed space with the elders, who'll boss them around in there for sure. This is also why I don't like the "throw them in there after dark and they'll be fine" method (without see-don't-touch first). That's a recipe for disaster. Chickens aren't stupid, and will see the intruders first thing in the morning, in a tight space with no escape (if the door hasn't opened yet).

How successful an introduction is and how long it takes also depends on the temperaments of everybody involved. Some breeds/individuals are more prone to conflict than others. So take it slow and see how it goes. And remember that there will always be some pecking order enforcements, even years after the introduction, and the different generations of chickens will probably never be "friends". But the goal is for them to tolerate each other without plucked feathers or blood. If you can get that, then the introduction is a success.

 

[KCGirl]

Age doesn't matter, as long as you follow the "see don't touch" method, which you seem to have started with, so that's great. They need to be behind a divider where the flock can see them, but not get at them, for several weeks. Then start letting them mingle with the flock, for short supervised periods at first, and increase their length every day. So if you have half an hour to spare, start with half an hour of them loose with the big girls, with you hanging around supervising. Then put them back. If that goes well, you can start increasing the time the next day, and maybe you aren't in with them the whole time, but nearby (doing yard work etc.). And so on. Eventually they'll be able to survive a whole day with the flock without your supervision.

Nighttime is trickier though, because who sleeps where is a big deal in the chicken world. That's when the pecking order gets enforced, and lower ranking chickens tend to get pushed around. It's also a tighter space inside the coop, and more likely for the newcomers to get within the elders' personal space and to piss them off. So I would wait until they can spend the day together without incidents, before you let them sleep together at night. And try to hang around nearby for their first bedtime together, just to keep an eye on things, until they settle for the night. The new ones may need help/encouragement from you, to go inside the coop for the first few nights, because they'll be apprehensive of going into an enclosed space with the elders, who'll boss them around in there for sure. This is also why I don't like the "throw them in there after dark and they'll be fine" method (without see-don't-touch first). That's a recipe for disaster. Chickens aren't stupid, and will see the intruders first thing in the morning, in a tight space with no escape (if the door hasn't opened yet).

How successful an introduction is and how long it takes also depends on the temperaments of everybody involved. Some breeds/individuals are more prone to conflict than others. So take it slow and see how it goes. And remember that there will always be some pecking order enforcements, even years after the introduction, and the different generations of chickens will probably never be "friends". But the goal is for them to tolerate each other without plucked feathers or blood. If you can get that, then the introduction is a success.

This is so helpful! Thank you so very much.

 

[The blue egg estate]

Your flock sounds just like mine. I’m sorry you’re dealing with this.

My hens have had drama ever since the first four got to be about eighteen weeks old. There’s always someone picking on another one.
They have the nicest life any chicken could want - an acre they get to free range on most days, plenty of room in the coop, and scraps aplenty.

But no, each hen feels it’s her duty to prevent the next lower ranking hen from ever enjoying life.
Just one example: there is an eighteen-foot roost for eight hens, and they all huddle together at one end and peck each other. If the lowest hens move to the opposite side, a higher-ranking one will follow just to keep pecking.

I just about hate chickens by now and don’t plan on getting another flock. I’ve had 20+ chickens in different arrangements and always there is drama.

I know people can have peaceful flocks, but I don’t know how they do it. Hopefully you can get this situation resolved and have some peace again!

Edit: my hens range from 1.5 years to 3.5 years. There was a rooster, I think he helped a little. But he died.

Wow. I see my future reading this because I had WAY too easy a time with my OG’s. The Wyandotte’s ruled over the Jersey Giants and the Brahmas and it was accepted by all. A slight upset when the Silkies were introduced, but only for like 5 seconds. I have Rhode Island Reds that were just integrated into the flock and there was about a 3 day upset. That was it. I have one rooster but he’s a Silkie and Steve gets zero respect. They carry on with their own hierarchy and couldn’t care less that he even exists. Now I’m worried about how the order will shift when Reds get a bit bigger.

 

[The blue egg estate]

Most of my flocks have had minor issues that went away once everyone started laying. If they didn’t go away or got consistently worse, I removed the worst offender. Sometimes just giving the whole flock a break from a mean girl for a day or two can reset the pecking order.

This is a fantastic perspective! It’s so true. Don’t intervene unless you have to. A “pecking order” is true for all walks of life, including ours. We recognize it and either adapt and adjust or excuse ourselves. They’re not that different. Let nature takes it course. They have a way of making their own peace. It may take a minute, but they’ll find their groove. At least, in my short experience.

 

[SkyAJK]

A sweet and gentle hen can turn into mean girl as soon as there is a new kid enters the flock, what have you done with my sweet angel?

 

[SkyAJK]

Pecking order issues happens more frequently with confined roosterless flocks.
My flock can free range, dominant hens cannot guard anything because all resources are spread out.
If there is any major bully hen, the rooster will always break the fight.
Las time there was this pullet literally hunting for recently weaned chicks. The chicks were hiding in a bush and the older pullet was hunting them like a dog would hunt a hidden critter. She grabbed a chick eventually and as soon as the chick started screaming, the rooster immediately run with a mating charge and drove her away from the chicks, and gave her something else to entertain with.
When it's time to roost, the older dominant hens will enter the coop first and settle. Once they're settled, the lowest ranking chicks get in and find a roost for themselves.
My flock is peaceful because they free range. If I confined them in a coop & run, I'm 100% sure they would destroy each other.

I found that the rooster is the peace keeper and told off the trouble maker.

I also suspect that their food could be one of the contributing factor of disharmony - I just have not found out what food/feed yet.

 

[FrostRanger]

I found that the rooster is the peace keeper and told off the trouble maker.

I also suspect that their food could be one of the contributing factor of disharmony - I just have not found out what food/feed yet.

Nutrient deficiencies (especially protein) can make a flock ornerier than it otherwise would be sometimes, looking at a flock's diet is certainly a good idea if you're having behavior issues, at the very least it may help a little

 

[Bonnieboo]

• I appreciate hearing about your experience. I did post above with my run. At one point, I felt like there must be something seriously wrong with their living situation, but I'm starting to feel like this is just how they want to run things. We came out this morning to a pullet, who was previously at the bottom of the pecking order, now pushing around the two biggest jerks in the flock! And one of the said jerks just squatted. At 16 weeks old. So I'm starting to see a lot of the girls sorting out their place, much like yours did!

I will 100% add the things I removed back in. I even bought extras. Perhaps I made the wrong decision in taking a couple things away, but it seems to have cooled a bit of the resource guarding. There's still things for them to do. It's also 90 degrees out right now, and the last thing I want is them chasing each other around the run because someone entered the holy sandbox.

 

[Bonnieboo]

My p