I have added 2 new hens a month ago and they are in the pecking order yet they still hide

[Bryce Thomas]

So I have a large piece of wood that they love to hide behind while shadow and peaches are doing something, when shadow and peaches are eating or foraging the 2 hens come out but then hide behind the wood again when shadow and peaches are not foraging for anything. Yes my rooster Koa happily accepts 2 new hens so now I have 1 roo and 4 hens. For some reason the 2 hens love to hide and I have lots of hiding areas in the massive coop (they dont have a run but its a 53ft long by 38ft wide coop and yes it has a treadle feeder and 2 waterers and a mister and lots of shade because I live in arizona) and of all that the 2 hens hide behind the wood, I have been gaining their trust and it has gotten better over time. Any ideas to make the 2 hens more confident in themselves?

 

[aart]

How long have they been integrated?
How did you integrate them?
How old, in weeks, are they?
I hope they are getting enough to eat.

 

[Bryce Thomas]

How long have they been integrated?
How did you integrate them?
How old, in weeks, are they?
I hope they are getting enough to eat.

They have had 2 weeks integrated and their coops were right next to each other with chain-link fencing then the day before they were introduced I had the 2 hens in a cage the night before they are moved into the same coop and the 2 hens are 4 and a half months old and yes they have plenty of feed

 

[aart]

They have had 2 weeks integrated and their coops were right next to each other with chain-link fencing then the day before they were introduced I had the 2 hens in a cage the night before they are moved into the same coop and the 2 hens are 4 and a half months old and yes they have plenty of feed

Geez, try some punctuation, eh?

2 hens are 4 and a half months old

They will not fully integrate until they start laying.


FYI-PSA.....semantics, maybe, but can be important communication terms when discussing chicken behavior.
-Female chickens are called pullets until one year of age, then they are called hens.
-Male chickens are called cockerels until one year of age, then they are called cocks(or cockbirds or roosters).
Age in weeks or months is always a good thing to note.

 

[3KillerBs]

yes they have plenty of feed

In multiple feeders set up in such a way that a chicken eating at one can't see the chickens eating at the other?

 

[Bryce Thomas]

In multiple feeders set up in such a way that a chicken eating at one can't see the chickens eating at the other?

yep