Morning all! I'm having a slight problem introducing two month olds to 3 month olds.
I bought a silkie and a cochin at a chicken swap. Cochin is a boy for sure, silkie acts rooish but I have no idea if it's a boy or girl, though I refer to him as a he.
A month later I went to the chicken swap and bought a japanese bantam cross, and another silkie who is hopefully a girl.
They are the same size as my two guys at home, but when I tried to introduce them the boys chased the new ones around and wouldn't leave them alone.
So now they sit in their little coops side by side. I'm using gigantic dog crates as grow out pens/quarantine pens. Every time I let them outside together the boys will not leave the other two alone, even after sitting side by side for a week and a half. I thought it would be easier introducing them at a young age, but I guess it's not! Ha! The boys won't let the girls eat or drink when they are together and peck them on the head constantly. I know there are some pecking orders to figure out, but They are just relentless with the pecking and chasing. I introduced 5 month olds to 7 month olds and had little problems with introduction, maybe because there were 6 birds to occupy the chasing/pecking.
Any help is appreciated. I'd really like the four of them to be together so they can have a bigger area to live in. But I can't let the two new ones starve/dehydrate if placed with the older ones.
I bought a silkie and a cochin at a chicken swap. Cochin is a boy for sure, silkie acts rooish but I have no idea if it's a boy or girl, though I refer to him as a he.
A month later I went to the chicken swap and bought a japanese bantam cross, and another silkie who is hopefully a girl.
They are the same size as my two guys at home, but when I tried to introduce them the boys chased the new ones around and wouldn't leave them alone.
So now they sit in their little coops side by side. I'm using gigantic dog crates as grow out pens/quarantine pens. Every time I let them outside together the boys will not leave the other two alone, even after sitting side by side for a week and a half. I thought it would be easier introducing them at a young age, but I guess it's not! Ha! The boys won't let the girls eat or drink when they are together and peck them on the head constantly. I know there are some pecking orders to figure out, but They are just relentless with the pecking and chasing. I introduced 5 month olds to 7 month olds and had little problems with introduction, maybe because there were 6 birds to occupy the chasing/pecking.
Any help is appreciated. I'd really like the four of them to be together so they can have a bigger area to live in. But I can't let the two new ones starve/dehydrate if placed with the older ones.
