How long before hens are nice to chicks?

[Abunney]

Hello,
Hi all I have 2 hens in our existing flock. Recently we had lost our other 2 pretty back to back. One is a Barred Rock and the other is a black australorpe. We have 10 week old pullets all Easter eggers.

We started our integration about 3.5 weeks ago. First just putting the babes out in the yard in a kennel. The hens came over once to see what the fuss was but pretty much ignored them. We eventually had them all out at the same time and still hens ignored babes. It all changed as soon as we put them in the coop. The hens will either ignore the pullets or chase them and try to peck them. I find that they block the water and their food.

We have been letting the big ones free range daily just so the little ones get a chance to eat and drink without being chased. We have a fairly big coop and decent sized run so the pullets typically stay to one side. But how long should I expect the hens to be this way? I would have assumed that the integration process would have been done by almost 4 weeks.

 

[K0k0shka]

It really depends on your hens and their personalities. Some are more willing to share than others. It also depends on your definition of "integrated". If there is no blood, missing feathers or injuries, and if everybody is getting enough to eat and drink, then they are integrated. They may never be best friends, or even get along well at all. So that shouldn't be your goal. The goal is for them to coexist without violence and injury. So if you have that, then you've integrated them successfully. The chasing and bossing may never fully stop. I have one hen that's been integrated for about a year (raised with the flock by one of the hens, mind you, so she's been there since she was an egg!), and two hens who were integrated at 4 weeks old 2 years ago, and my older hens still chase those three and boss them around. They will never be friends, and that's okay, because they don't really hurt them, and everybody eats, drinks, sleeps and lays just fine. Make sure you have multiple feeding and watering stations, so the pullets can have access, and have food and water available free choice at all times. That way there is no way 2 hens can block access to all food and water all the time all day. The pullets will learn to eat when and where the hens are not around.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Multiple feeders and waterers, spread out, with plenty of clutter to provide hiding spaces, is really what you need at this point: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/page-6#post-25037140

The chicks will be a subflock until they reach point of lay, at which point the hens will be more accepting of them.

 

[MrsNorthie]

Multiple feeders and waterers, spread out, with plenty of clutter to provide hiding spaces, is really what you need at this point: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/page-6#post-25037140

The chicks will be a subflock until they reach point of lay, at which point the hens will be more accepting of them.

Having multiple feeders and waterers has helped a lot in our coop. We have some individual feeders and then some group feeders, but they are pretty spread out so there are options.