Integrating chickens and it not going well

[homeschoolchick]

Hello
I have 4 Naked Necks, and 2 Polish. The Polish are 5 months old, and the NNs are 4 months old. I had the NNs first (got them in July around 4/5 weeks old I was told), and then got the Polish from a neighbor in August. I kept the 2 Polish separate for 2 weeks and then brought them to be "seen" in a cage next to the NNs, for 2 weeks. Ever since the introduction, it has gone horrible. The NNs do not like the Polish. The cockerel especially. He will jump on them and rip feathers out of their heads. They submit and he still attacks. The girls will chase them too, but don't seem to be a rough. However, now all four gang up on them. It has slowly gotten worse, to the point of them cornering the one Polish and the cockerel making her head bleed. I always supervise the "free range" interactions. When they aren't in a huge fenced in area "free ranging", then they are in separate runs next to each other. They have separate coops.
I am very discouraged and worry they will never get a long. The one Polish is the only hen now, she has so far layed two eggs. She will squat for the cockerel, but he just pounces on her and rips her feathers out. I think if I wasn't watching them, the four would have killed her the day she was cornered and got a bloody head.
I don't know what to do at this point. Any suggestions?

 

[aart]

First thing I'd do is remove the male to a separate enclosure.
See how that goes.

Post dimensions and pics of your coop and run so we can see the scenario and offer viable suggestions.

Hindsight: may have been much easier to integrate as soon as you got the newer ones.

 

[rosemarythyme]

House the Polish separately 100% of the time (or only allow free ranging together while supervised). Because of the head feathers they often get bullied by "normal" looking chickens.

 

[homeschoolchick]

Thank you.
I quarantined the Polish, which is why I waited. I will have to take pictures tomorrow.

I might have to keep them separate 100% of the time, but my second coop is small, and was going to be only used as a brooder or quarantine coop.
For the future, will showgirls get a long with Polish? I have seen many people cross polish with NNs, and thought this would be fine. I really wanted mostly a NN flock.

When I had chickens, a long time ago, I had a mixed flock but the babies were from broodies and I never had chickens fighting. This is new for me.

 

[rosemarythyme]

For the future, will showgirls get a long with Polish? I have seen many people cross polish with NNs, and thought this would be fine. I really wanted mostly a NN flock.

They may or may not, though generally the smaller, more docile birds are more likely to get along. Photos and more details about your set up and flock might help us see if there's more you can do to set up the birds for a successful integration, but sometimes Polish just don't mix well with non-Polish. If they can't get along free ranging then I definitely wouldn't expect them to get along under confinement.

Also I guess I read it wrong, but you have both a NN cockerel NN and a Polish cockerel? Or just one?

 

[homeschoolchick]

I am going to have to figure out how to add photos. I took pictures but am at a loss on adding them.

I have one cockerel only.

 

[ChickyCh00k]

Here's how to upload a photo from your phone :

 

[homeschoolchick]

Everything is a work in progress. The coop is about to have a covered run. The metal runs will be used for bad weather as well. Right now the two groups are kept separate in the runs and separate in the two coops at night.

 

[homeschoolchick]

I forgot to mention that the metal runs are roughly 9.5 x 13.5. The main coop is 6x6, and smaller is 4x3.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I forgot to mention that the metal runs are roughly 9.5 x 13.5. The main coop is 6x6, and smaller is 4x3.

Well space doesn't appear to be an issue. You could use a little more large clutter in the runs but if the birds are in conflict even free ranging I don't know if that'll make much difference.

Maybe age is a factor here as many of the birds are still "teens" and chickens can get a bit skittish and feisty at that age, though I've never tried integrating half grown birds with like. Maybe try again after the NNs reach point of lay?