I'm trying to introduce my 3 ...8week old pullets to my established 2...5 month old laying Leghorns. They are so mean. I tried to get them to roost together last night to no avail.I know eventually they will be large enough to hold their own. But for now they have a cage on the outside of the little brown hen house. I'm thinking of throwing the big girls out tonight and letting them roost under the tree.What's a hen Momma to do?
They might get eaten if you try that. A certain amount of pecking is to be expected, and is normal. You just need to be careful that the bigger ones don't seriously hurt or kill the smaller ones. I just integrated my 4mo. olds, last night. In prep, I put the mean hen in chicken "jail" for a few days. Went OK, but the poor pullets were terrified. Imp- Why can't they just get along from the start.
Can you fence off an area so they can see each other and get used to each other before you let them start living together? That has always worked for me
It is always really hard to watch the younger ones getting pecked on. As long as you provide enough space for them and a space for them to get out of the way! To this day the main group of chickens sleep together and the newer ones together and then the newest ones together. My silver laced wynd is the meanest of all my chickens, she really gives it to them but after a couple of weeks she backs off, I think she is making a statement
I put the young ones in a dog crate with an opening big enough for the little one to get out but not for the big ones to get in. It gave the little ones a place to go when big ones were being 'too much'. After a while the little ones began to move out from the protection of the dog crate to sleep out near the other birds. When that happened I removed the crate.
