I have horrible chickens! Help! Trying to integrate....stressful!!!

[AlicesSilkies]

I have 6 3month old bantam chickens that i have hand reared from day 2, they are so tame and loving and LOVE cuddles!
I also have 2 bantams that are 1month and 2 weeks old, they have been kept separate, i tried to integrate them today so they could be together and 3 of my bantams were soo mean to them, one was pecked until its comb bled!!!!!!!!

I have taken the 2 new bantams out have i done the right thing??
What shall i do next??

Please help!! Sooo stressful!!!!

 

[teach1rusl]

Yes, any time blood is drawn, it's time to intervene.
I would say the two most stressful events a chicken person will encounter is predator issues (I've not had problems in this area luckily) and integrations (which I've dealt with several times). The chickens you THOUGHT were so sweet and loving turn into evil bullies out of the blue...at least some of them do...when new birds are introduced.

Slow and steady (with LOTS of supervision) wins the race with integrations. You said you had the newbies separated...but the other birds could see them? That's important, that they have a few weeks to get to know one another through wire first.

If you can free range, let them (under your supervision if needed) free range together. That gives the newbies plenty of space to escape, and the older birds don't feel as if they're defending THEIR territory.

Make sure there is not only plenty of space in the run/coop, but that you have stumps, branches, barriers of some kind in the run so that newbies have places to escape to when needed.

Make sure that 2 feeders and 2 waterers set well apart are available so newbies can eat without being run off.

With one pair I introduced, when I let them out of their wired off area of the run, I'd sit out there with a squirt bottle and squirt anyone who went after them out of meaness.

Running at a newbie, and a peck here or there is to be expected. But if feathers are being yanked out or blood is being drawn, then it's time to go back and look at how you're integrating. Good luck!

 

[PeachygirlGA]

I had 5 chicks that were 2 months old and then got 2 new hens that were 3 months old. I kept them separate for a couple of days, but they could see each other. Finally I put them together one afternoon and the YOUNGER ones attacked the 2 new hens, one in particular. I stopped them several times from chasing her, but they kept pecking. I put the divider up again and gradually kept putting them together and after a week they now get along fine.

 

[mochichicks]

it's so important to go slow with integrations. make sure to have them seperated through wires so they can get used to each other's presence before you try putting them together. even then it's hard to avoid some pecking (it's called the pecking order for a reason). Just make sure to keep an close eye and give it time. It's adviced to give at least 2 weeks (or more if needed) of through the wire integration before you try full integration

 

[applegal]

I totally agree with the other posts. It is horribly frustrating to see your birds hurt each other. I agree that more time is needed and they need to be able to see each other while separate. We have even temporarily put up a wire fence in the existing run to allow both groups to see each other outside as well as a separate room in the coop. Free range time does work wonders. I've tried to integrate in summer and winter. Summer is so much better because the new girls can tag along and hang out on the edge of the existing flock. I have found that it is the girls who are lowest on the existing pecking order that are the meanest to the newcomers.

Another idea I've come across is sneaking in the coop in the middle of the night and placing the newcomers on the roosts with the existing flock. I've never done this, but apparently when everyone wakes up, the existing flock is more accepting because they made the assumption the new girls belong since they were there all night. Go figure. I'd definitely want to be in there when they wake up! There's a couple of posts on BYC, so it may be worth looking into.
Good Luck!