Integrating flocks

[AeroChickens]

We got 5 baby chicks early April, one turned out to be a rooster. This last February, the rooster started being aggressive with a hen, so we put him in jail and adapted 5 more hens from a neighbor who was moving. After a few days of letting the hens get to know each other, we let them meet.

The 5 new hens are all above the 4 original hens in the pecking order. We tried to let the rooster out after a while, but he attacked and made one of the new hens bleed, so we traded the roo for a jar of pickles.

We adopted the new hens back on Feb 20th, but our hens are still having a hard time - in the morning, they get attacked if they get off the perch to try to eat after the new hens. When we open the door to the run, the original hens aren't allowed out for a bit, and when they eventually go out, they just roost in a corner. There is another food and waterer outside, but they also have trouble using that one.

On cold windy days the original hens just sit outside on that perch, when they would have been inside before we got the new hens.

Is it normal for it to take so long for them to integrate?

When they are all free ranging, they often mingle with each other a little bit, but even then the new hens feel the need to randomly peck our original hens.

How much longer until they all get along?

 

[azygous]

Unfortunately, when you simply toss chickens together and allow them to settle the pecking order Darwin-style, the aggressive ones will squash the timid ones, and now the pecking order is set that way. Timid chickens accept tyranny just as humans do when they feel they have no choice.

First of all, you probably need more space in your run. The general rule is to allow ten square feet of run space per chicken. This should include perches and things to hide behind. You can try to rehabilitate the timid chickens by partitioning the run so they are safe from the aggressive ones during the day. Then once the timid ones have had a rest from being bullied, allow gradual re-exposure, increasing time the two groups mingle each day, closing off access when you see bully behavior.

The objective is to allow the timid ones safety to rediscover their self confidence and then eventually, they will stand up for themselves against being pushed around.

 

[AeroChickens]

My run is 15 feet long x 8 feet wide x 6 feet tall. 120 square feet should be plenty for 9 hens...

We had them in separate coops for about a week which I had read was plenty.

All our chickens are smaller than the new hens, and our hens always had a rooster to protect them.

They aren't constantly attacked and are able to eat here and there, its just clear that they are not totally comfortable with all the new hens yet.

3 of our original hens are in the front of this picture, and 3 of the new hens further back. The other 3 hens are inside laying together.

In the second picture, their best friend in the new flock, Rosy(the white one) has come to hang out with the 3 original hens. They get along with her really well, and when they all roost together she is usually between the two groups.

Do I really need to separate them after a month, and do this more slowly?

I think they just need more time to get comfortable with their new sisters... I doubt they are moving up in the pecking order simply due to the size difference

 

[aart]

120 square feet should be plenty for 9 hens...

Eh....yeah...but not necessarily for integration.

I'd have kept them separate for more than a week,
but unless they are being seriously beaten and bloodied,
better not to separate now.

Might try 'cluttering' up the run a bit.
Good ideas for hiding places:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/

 

[Chickenslol]

My run is 15 feet long x 8 feet wide x 6 feet tall. 120 square feet should be plenty for 9 hens...

We had them in separate coops for about a week which I had read was plenty.

All our chickens are smaller than the new hens, and our hens always had a rooster to protect them.

They aren't constantly attacked and are able to eat here and there, its just clear that they are not totally comfortable with all the new hens yet.

3 of our original hens are in the front of this picture, and 3 of the new hens further back. The other 3 hens are inside laying together.

In the second picture, their best friend in the new flock, Rosy(the white one) has come to hang out with the 3 original hens. They get along with her really well, and when they all roost together she is usually between the two groups.

Do I really need to separate them after a month, and do this more slowly?

I think they just need more time to get comfortable with their new sisters... I doubt they are moving up in the pecking order simply due to the size difference

size is a big part of it. I'm not sure if you mentioned it but are the new ones younger? If so they might just need some time to grow up, the older they get the more they will become more confident. At least that's what happened with my girls. If not you might want to do see don't touch method, if you have space separate your run with chicken wire so that they can see the older chickens, but they can't hurt them. It might help the chickens get used to each other and the more the older chickens see the younger ones without being able to bully them the better it'll be. If you don't want to do that I would just monitor for feathers being pulled and like others have said, expand the run. You can also do things like separate feeders and keep a close eye

 

[AeroChickens]

Our original hens(the 4 smaller hens that are getting bullied) are coming up on a year old now.

Ive been told 3 of the 5 new bigger hens are a year old and the other 2 are 2 years old.

Cluttering up the run definitely seems like a good idea, ill put some pallets and stuff in there.

I don't really want to make the run larger, but we can let them free range a bit more.

Maybe I should get some of those pinless peepers for the bullies

 

[AeroChickens]

What are everyone's thoughts on pinless peepers? Would it be helpful to grab a few for the 3-4 newer but bigger and older hens that are causing our original flock to be very timid?

A couple weeks of the bullies wearing those would probably help to restore the timid hens confidence I imagine?

My fiance said she thought they were inhumane when I first mentioned them, so we will probably just be going with cluttering up the run and giving them more food distractions and free range time and hoping that does the trick over time

 

[aart]

What are everyone's thoughts on pinless peepers?

They can work.
Last resort, IMO.

 

[AeroChickens]

Another option would be to separate them again(as @azygous first mentioned) - we can put the coop the 5 new hens came with next to our big coop again, and move the 5 new hens back out to their old coop for a couple weeks if that would help - though @aart recommended against separating them again at this point if they aren't getting bloody.

They definitely are not getting bloodied, we haven't seen anything more than a peck here and there. Just being territorial it seems and asserting dominance constantly, seemingly unnecessarily.

I knew we should have kept them separate for more than a week, but we had the rooster in jail for a couple weeks already at the time and were really hoping we could resolve his aggressive behavior by giving him more ladies. So we were trying to get the flocks of hens merged before letting him out, so we definitely were rushing everything a bit. Should have just got rid of the roo at the first signs of aggression to his ladies in hindsight, but here we are.

 

[azygous]

The key words here are separate but still see one another. Chickens do not need to be beak hammered to learn which chickens are thugs and to give them a wide berth. Even tiny chicks learn by observing the individual temperaments of the adult flock and adjusting their defensive behavior accordingly when they do begin to mingle with them.

The objective of separating them again is to interrupt the subservient behavior of the more timid birds and to help them relearn self confidence. It's much easier than it sounds. It only requires a "vacation" from being pushed around and gradual relearning to be in the same flock with the thuggish ones and to stand up for themselves. The change can be dramatic and surprising.

This is the article I wrote about this subject. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/chicken-bully-chicken-victim-a-two-sided-issue.73923/