Intergrating a surviving chicken

[KimberlyBinGA]

A coyote or a fox killed 3 out of 4 of our younger flock of chickens last night. We have another flock of 4 older chickens in a separate coop. The surviving chicken was the smallest and lowest in the pecking order in it's flock and definitely will be in when she is integrated into the other flock. When both flocks were in the yard the older flock always pecked the younger ones if they got too close. I am worried she is traumatized from the loss of her sisters and will be bullied by the new flock. We tried putting her in with them for a little bit earlier and they kept pecking her so we moved her back to the other coop alone. The coops are already right next to each other. Anything I should do to help her integrate better?

 

[azygous]

Incremental integration works best with older chickens. When putting one chicken with multiples, give her a half hour with them one day, increase it to one hour the second day, and increase it each day according to how well she seems to be doing.

This lowers the amount of stress she will experience, and the others will gradually accept her.

Here's my article on integrating a single hen to a flock. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/introducing-a-single-hen-to-an-existing-flock.71997/

 

[KimberlyBinGA]

Incremental integration works best with older chickens. When putting one chicken with multiples, give her a half hour with them one day, increase it to one hour the second day, and increase it each day according to how well she seems to be doing.

This lowers the amount of stress she will experience, and the others will gradually accept her.

Here's my article on integrating a single hen to a flock. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/introducing-a-single-hen-to-an-existing-flock.71997/

Thank you so much! That's a huge help!