Integrating a cockerel into a flock of mature hens

[aart]

He was standing beside their run and she reached through and got him but he headed for me as soon as he saw me. Some bits of his comb are now missing. I did however, take your advice and let them all out. For the most part, everyone is fairly peaceful; much more so than I had anticipated. There have been just a few minor spars and Ichabod is quick to break them up. He's also keeping the older girls together where he can see them all at once whilst he keeps an eye on the pullets who aren't acting so tough now that the barrier is gone. Maybe that pullet was reacting out of feeling cornered. The feather picking is still an issue and I won't be moving any of the pullets except for the most passive one into the main coop until it stops and the most dominant will still be going into her own coop for a while, at least at night.

Great!! Was the comb biter out with them all too?

 

[islandgirl82]

She is and she's keeping busy scratching through leaves. They're far too distracted by the free-ranging time to be paying too much attention to anyone else. The pullets were sticking close to me which is also a little surprising considering how skittish they all still are. Ichabod stood on the bench beside me to watch over everyone until the older girls began to filter back into the main coop and he joined them while the pullets are still out. I'll let them all out a little earlier tomorrow as I believe the hawk threat is gone for the season.

 

[aart]

She is and she's keeping busy scratching through leaves. They're far too distracted by the free-ranging time to be paying too much attention to anyone else. The pullets were sticking close to me which is also a little surprising considering how skittish they all still are. Ichabod stood on the bench beside me to watch over everyone until the older girls began to filter back into the main coop and he joined them while the pullets are still out. I'll let them all out a little earlier tomorrow as I believe the hawk threat is gone for the season.

That's good....maybe that will work out in the long run and you won't need peepers or female dog(mean chicken) jail.

 

[islandgirl82]

I would still let her out to free-range during the day (provided she behaves) but keep her by herself at night and hopefully it's enough to eliminate the picking. It's bad enough that the other pullets are dealing with it and I don't want my main flock exposed to that behavior.

 

[aart]

I would still let her out to free-range during the day (provided she behaves) but keep her by herself at night and hopefully it's enough to eliminate the picking. It's bad enough that the other pullets are dealing with it and I don't want my main flock exposed to that behavior.

Ah....I see. It's an option.
Any change in picking after their stroll?

 

[islandgirl82]

Not that I noticed but I think it's happening mostly in the mornings before I've opened their coop for the day. I wanted to wait the full 30 days for quarantine but the lack of free-ranging that the pullets were used to was taking too much of a toll on them. They're also smaller than all the other chickens. That was difficult to assess until I could see them side by side and once they were all out together, they too seemed to notice that everyone else towers over them and backed away whenever a hen stretched up in front of them. Ichabod is nearly twice their size and they had no interest in messing with him once that barrier was removed.

Having them all out together went so much smoother than I expected but that's not to say things will remain so once they get more comfortable being around each other.

 

[Sylvester017]

This morning, I let Ichabod and the main flock out to free-range briefly and to give them a chance to meet the pullets. Quarantine isn't going well as the picking had been getting better with the increased protein in their diet but has now regressed to something even worse than what it was initially and as much as I was hoping to avoid the peepers, it's time to try them.

All but two of the main flock rushed past the quarantine area; Ichabod and Grace, one of the Dominique hens stopped at the pullets' pen. The two more passive pullets stayed in the center of their pen and remained there whilst Grace and one of the more dominant pullets immediately began to spar through the barrier though neither was daring enough to make it serious and the second dominant went for Ichabod. He didn't engage like Grace did but instead lowered his head and stepped forward, placing himself between the barrier and me, whilst glaring at her with his hackles slightly raised. She kept reaching through trying to peck at his comb but he kept just out of reach. When I stepped away, he followed. I have no doubt he was protecting me from what was an obvious threat to his flock (from his perspective).

This is not an integration I'm looking forward to. At all. When the time comes, I think it will be best to let the two less dominant pullets out to free range with the main flock, allowing them time to find their place in the order before introducing the other two who will most definitely need to be in the peepers for a while and may remain in solitary well after the more passive girls have been integrated. I'm not sure if this approach will make this process more complicated and stressful than necessary but I also don't want my main flock suffering through feather picking and bad attitudes, especially when everyone is finally finishing up with their molting.

Feather-picking from everything I read about and went through with a feather-picking Marans, is difficult if not impossible to break -- we finally re-homed our bully Marans who was feather-picking the fluffy Silkies bald before we realized they weren't molting! I read that Peepers work for a little while until the hen figures how to work around her Peepers and continues feather-picking anyway. It is easier to re-home or process a feather-picker than it is to spray Bitter Apple or other deterrents on the other chickens. You have a lot of chickens and only 2 are feather-pickers. Easier to isolate or re-home the 2 feather-pickers than subject the rest of the flock to their picking. Feather picking/eating is also a contagious practice that the other chickens will pick up from the offenders. Mean-ness spreads and is contagious with chickens. Hard to face these problems when they happen but I've been there, done that! GL with whatever you decide to do.

 

[aart]

Not that I noticed but I think it's happening mostly in the mornings before I've opened their coop for the day. I wanted to wait the full 30 days for quarantine but the lack of free-ranging that the pullets were used to was taking too much of a toll on them. They're also smaller than all the other chickens. That was difficult to assess until I could see them side by side and once they were all out together, they too seemed to notice that everyone else towers over them and backed away whenever a hen stretched up in front of them. Ichabod is nearly twice their size and they had no interest in messing with him once that barrier was removed.

Having them all out together went so much smoother than I expected but that's not to say things will remain so once they get more comfortable being around each other.

Yeah, it'll take time for sure.
True, full quarantine is very hard to do.
I think getting the new ones out of confinement might really help to balance out the aggression issues, eventually.

 

[islandgirl82]

I've let them all out much earlier this morning than I normally would have (keeping an eye out for wandering fox) but wanted to give them as many distractions as possible as soon as possible to hopefully prevent further picking and aggression (the one pullet I know for sure has been picking and got Ichabod's comb also bit me after the incident with him).

The pullets have decided teaming up on one hen to try to earn their spots is a much more effective approach but Ichabod is being very quick to break up these spars. He's being very assertive but still polite about it all. I can see already, he's going to have a very busy day.

 

[islandgirl82]

Quote:

Feather-picking from everything I read about and went through with a feather-picking Marans, is difficult if not impossible to break -- we finally re-homed our bully Marans who was feather-picking the fluffy Silkies bald before we realized they weren't molting! I read that Peepers work for a little while until the hen figures how to work around her Peepers and continues feather-picking anyway. It is easier to re-home or process a feather-picker than it is to spray Bitter Apple or other deterrents on the other chickens. You have a lot of chickens and only 2 are feather-pickers. Easier to isolate or re-home the 2 feather-pickers than subject the rest of the flock to their picking. Feather picking/eating is also a contagious practice that the other chickens will pick up from the offenders. Mean-ness spreads and is contagious with chickens. Hard to face these problems when they happen but I've been there, done that! GL with whatever you decide to do.

Thank you. I do worry about not being able to break the habit but want to do everything I can to try before making any final decisions. I had wondered whether picking is strictly habitual or if it can also be hereditary and started a thread about it; asking for input from people who had experience specifically with feather pickers who have had offspring - whether the offspring were prone to it or if it was just isolated to a parent. The feedback I got was that it's habitual, not hereditary and received some great support and helpful tips from people who have been able to break their birds' of the picking so I my hope is not lost.