How to introduce five 8 week olds to my laying hens?

[Woytgirl]

I have 5 chicks, 2 roosters and 2 hens. One we can't tell yet. Well, anyway, the hens have pecked the chicks before when I've let them free-range together (under supervision, of course). It was the 3 Golden Laced Wyandottes mostly pecking them . My Easter Egger only pecked them once because the chick was irritating her, or so my brother says.When they pecked them I've shoved or hit them. Well, yesterday I put the chicks in the run with the big chickens, and they seemed fine. I was inside, then my sister ran up shouting for me and I went out and 2 Wyandottes were pecking Vanilla (the Easter Egger rooster) cornering him and pulling at his wings. I went in and got the chicks out. My sisters said the broody hen heard the chick screaming, came out of the nesting box, and raised her hackles at the Wyandottes and tried to protect the chick. My buff orpington is really sweet.
How do I introduce them again?

 

[Top Rooster]

What I did was I put a makeshift pen by the bigger chickens pen for about two weeks but I'd take them inside during the night to avoid predators. Two weeks later I put them in the adult chickens pen there are ten hens and three chicks. None of the hens pecked them they inter grated without any pecking it's a pretty good way to inter grate them without violence

 

[centrarchid]

My approach is to add the dominant birds to the subordinate birds so subordinates have home turf advantage. Add dominants singly with a one day interval between them. The young birds will still get pecked by first addition but not as much relative to being placed in with dominants. First added dominants will suppress aggression of those added later.

 

[Woytgirl]

Ok, thanks. Yes, they are in an old rabbit hutch inside the run so they and the chickens can see each other. After a couple days I will let them be in there without a cage.

 

[rainee63]

I'm having this problem too. Trying to move my younger chicks outside and the older BO rooster is being so mean. I can't let them out of their cage! It's been 2 days and I'm about ready to rehome a rooster! I think I ended up with 4 anyway :/

 

[Gab1]

I have 5 chicks, 2 roosters and 2 hens. One we can't tell yet. Well, anyway, the hens have pecked the chicks before when I've let them free-range together (under supervision, of course). It was the 3 Golden Laced Wyandottes mostly pecking them . My Easter Egger only pecked them once because the chick was irritating her, or so my brother says.When they pecked them I've shoved or hit them. Well, yesterday I put the chicks in the run with the big chickens, and they seemed fine. I was inside, then my sister ran up shouting for me and I went out and 2 Wyandottes were pecking Vanilla (the Easter Egger rooster) cornering him and pulling at his wings. I went in and got the chicks out. My sisters said the broody hen heard the chick screaming, came out of the nesting box, and raised her hackles at the Wyandottes and tried to protect the chick. My buff orpington is really sweet.
How do I introduce them again?

I suggest putting the chickens in a cage surround inside the run, so that everyone can get used to one another for a week or so, before letting them all go together. This way they can get their introductions over through the safety of netting. Can you just fence off a corner. You do need to make it secure so that they can't be attacked like in a trap. Then at night after a week you can put them all together when they are asleep and they wake up together, but they know each other by then.

 

[Woytgirl]

Yeah, it's hard. Luckily I don't have any roosters, just hens that are mean.

I'm having this problem too. Trying to move my younger chicks outside and the older BO rooster is being so mean. I can't let them out of their cage! It's been 2 days and I'm about ready to rehome a rooster! I think I ended up with 4 anyway :/

 

[Woytgirl]

Yeah, that's what I'm gonna do.

I suggest putting the chickens in a cage surround inside the run, so that everyone can get used to one another for a week or so, before letting them all go together. This way they can get their introductions over through the safety of netting. Can you just fence off a corner. You do need to make it secure so that they can't be attacked like in a trap. Then at night after a week you can put them all together when they are asleep and they wake up together, but they know each other by then.

 

[Woytgirl]

On tomorrow it will have been a week since I put them in the wire cage in the chickens run. During the week I have since the Wyandottes circling it, trying to peck them. I will let them out tomorrow in the run, and watch for a few minutes. I really hope no one will be mean to them again!

 

[Woytgirl]

When will my 2 roos hormones start to kick in? I have this one mean hen who mounts the other hens like a rooster and pulls their feathers off. I am probably rehoming her. I hope the roo stops her bad behaviour as I've heard that they don't let the hens fight.