integrating young pullets into a small flock

[dawnangel]

I am completely new to this chicken raising thing. I have four chickens in my backyard. We have two hens (RIR) that are a year old, and 2 young chicks. The two chicks are about 3-4 months old now, and have been wondering around outside for a couple weeks. The older hens don't let them become part of their groups, they chase them off, and peck a few feathers every once in awhile. The chicks are a little smaller yet, but fattening up nicely. Is this chasing behavior normal.. or did I try to introduce the chicks too early? They don't roost with the older hens, and prefer to sit on my windowsill til I close them up in a pen for the night. The hens stay in the coop and roost together. Is there something I can do to make the flock more of a cohesive group rather than 2 pairs of chickens?

 

[Judy]

If they are accustomed to any kind of treats or table scraps, you can use bribery to get them to eat near each other.

I have 10 hens and a roo. The hens tend to hang around in 3 separate groups during the day, plus one hen tends to stay by herself, but they all roost on the same roost -- well, set of roosts. And these are mostly 2+ years old. Sometimes they won't ever combine -- or they may even change groups now and then. There will always be some pecking, too; that's why you hear "the pecking order." Can you put the younger ones in the coop with the hens at night? Keep in mind it's quite normal for them to squabble a bit at dusk over the "good" roosting spots -- I see them do it every night.

Usually they will peck rather than pull feathers. It is possible they are a bit short on protein if they are pulling feathers. Adding a little protein, or using a higher protein treat in small quantities like BOSS (black oil sunflower seeds) may help. I personally think a bit of animal protein is a good idea. It doesn't need to be much, maybe some meat table scraps. I get too many eggs so I give them a plate of scrambled eggs every week or so. You can buy a can of canned mackerel and give part of it with some other food every now and then. They love to pick a carcass clean -- yes, even a chicken carcass.

 

[terryg]

It's absolutely normal for the two groups to stay apart and for the younger to be pecked at. As long as they have enough space that the pecking doesn't get bloody and the young ones can get to the food and water, you're fine. I would be concerned about the roosting behavior. You want them to go into the coop on their own at night. Is there enough space for them? 6 inches per hen for the roosts. It's best if the roosts are multi-leveled so the hens can sort themselves out. Is it tight getting in so the old hens block the way? Sometimes poor coop set-ups make the pecking order issues worse. You can see the roosts I use on my live streaming cams at www.hencam.com. Also, I have a FAQ about integrating new hens into a flock.http://hencam.com/faq/introducing-new-hens/

 

[Judy]

I agree they need to roost but I don't agree on the different roost heights. Just goes to show, there are MANY ways to manage chickens successfully. To my mind they should be less likely to have serious fights if the roosts are the same level, since of course highest is best in their little brains. But I can see how having different heights might help them sort out their differences, too.

 

[dawnangel]

Our coop is 36 inches by 48in, we only have the 4 chickens, for a while it was just 2 hens. There's a wooden floor, then a roosting shelf about a foot up, followed by the roof about another foot after that. Its a pretty short coop, we built it ourselves. I think the little ones just don't know any better. Maybe we'll plop them into the coop after the hens have bedded down and see what happens. We eventually had to do that we our rooster we had at one point. The hens beat up on him a bit until he gained weight on them. A couple nights of being put in, and he learned to follow the hens. I know they get plenty of food, we have two feeders out, one in back and one in front. I also give em some egg from time to time, especially the hen that just got over being broody, she lost a little weight, and needs to fatten up again. I think feathers just get pulled from time to time cause the little ones aren't always fast enough. Most of the time it's just a little jab, a quick run from a chick, and the hen backs down. I guess that normal pecking order. I've seen the two chicks fight from time to time too.. their pretty equal in weight, and size so i think their trying to figure out their own order.

 

[yardbirds sask]

I started my small urban backyard flock last August with 5 pullets. In December one suffered a severe prolapse laying her first egg and had to be put down after 3 weeks nursing care (she didn't recover) and in January had to humanely dispatch another that had a very severe hip dislocation that wasn't healing. That left me with 3 hens and I wanted a few more. I arranged to have 2 olive eggers and a blue copper marans pullet join the small flock. I had them in a small crate for their initial introduction of about 4 or 5 days. These new birds were about 14 weeks old, and comparable in size to the little blue ameraucana I had to dispatch. I let them out after 5 days and they did not get along at all. They were constantly harassed to the point of whn they retreated to their cage they were followed and attacked. So I divided the run in half and the coop as well, and let them get used to each other for another couple of weeks The coop and run are only 12ft long x 6ft wide (run) and coop 6ft x 4ft. so I needed to integrate for my own ease of care maintenance.. I removed the dividers and there was a bit of squabbling but nothing like their past encounters. They do all roost together now on a 3.5ft roost (which surprises me), and they do get along fine for the most part, but the older "girls" are still dominant and will probably remain so. They are all laying with the exception of the blue olive egger, am hoping soon and that she isn't going to prolapse like my first cull. Good Luck with your integration, chickens can be soooo MEAN...