Introducing new chickens

[cindagram]

The normal cause for that kind of behavior is that they don't have enough room. Usually the younger ones stay far enough way from the more mature and they get along. One of the ways chickens have learned to live together on a flock is that when there is conflict the weaker runs away and then avoids the stronger. If they don't have enough room to do that then it becomes dangerous.

Until they mature enough to force their way into the pecking order, immature chicks are always lower in the pecking order than more mature chickens. If they invade the personal space of the mature chickens they are likely to get pecked. It's called the pecking order for a reason. If the weaker doesn't have enough room to run away the mature see it as a challenge to their dominance and they can go nuts. You are right to be worried.

Rosemary gave some common suggestions to increase the quality of what room you have. If you don't have enough room to do some of that you just don't have enough room period.

I see three basic options. House the younger separately until they mature. With pullets that's usually a couple of weeks after they start laying eggs. You can increase the size of your facilities. Or you can get rid of some chickens.

There are exceptions, there always are with living animals, but for the most part if you are having a behavior problem the first question I'll ask is how much room do they have.

 

[cindagram]

Is a 10 x 20 run large enough for nine chickens? It seems so to me but maybe I am mistaken? I put a lot of time and money into making my coop and run amazing but am I just trying to put too many birds in it?

 

[cindagram]

I’m glad I’m not the only one trying to figure this out lol

I am sorry I kind of hijacked this post of yours. I am new to this and I could not figure out how to make a new post so I jumped onto yours because it was exactly what I was trying to get answers to. I hope that is all right.
If you figure out a solution that works would you please share?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Is a 10 x 20 run large enough for nine chickens? It seems so to me but maybe I am mistaken? I put a lot of time and money into making my coop and run amazing but am I just trying to put too many birds in it?

The coop(s) and run(s) together make up your space system. When all that space is available factors into it. You might follow the link in my post to see some of the things I consider important. I don't believe in magic square feet per chicken numbers, there are too many variables.

A 10' x 20' run should be plenty large enough for 9 chickens all the same age as long as you do not have more than one male. Integration, especially with younger chickens, takes more room. That may be big enough as long as you create ways to improve the quality of the space. Give the chicks places to hide under, behind, or above. Yours are probably too big for a safe haven/panic room. That's where you create a pen with openings the younger can get through but the older cannot. You might put something up on cinder blocks, lean a piece of plywood against a fence (fastened so the wind does not blow it down and crush a chicken), or put a table in there with feed and water on top. Do not create traps but give them a back way out.

Do not try to enclose then in a tight space to force them to get along. Let them work it out. If they want to sleep somewhere away from the older hens let them. At least for a while until they get more used to each other. The size and set-up of your coop can have a lot of influence on how they get along when they are locked in there. When you try that, be there at the crack of dawn to open the pop door so they can get away if they need to. I usually only do that a couple of times before I'm comfortable I don't need to be in a rush but my set-up and my flock is different from yours. What works for me may not work for you.

A lot of us go through this all the time with no real problems. We tend to have a lot of room, in the coop and in the run. We tend to house the younger ones side by side across wire for quite a while, many of us have brooders set up in the coop or located next to the run so the chicks basically grow up with the flock. I integrate five week old brooder raised chicks regularly and never have issues. Others do it a little younger. Others have chickens die. We all have different set-ups and management techniques, what works fro one does not necessarily work for another.

 

[Frizzlychick]

I am sorry I kind of hijacked this post of yours. I am new to this and I could not figure out how to make a new post so I jumped onto yours because it was exactly what I was trying to get answers to. I hope that is all right.
If you figure out a solution that works would you please share?

Haha no worries! We are both having the same problem so it’s all good

 

[Frizzlychick]

Ok sorry for taking so long to respond...work life lol. So my run is 7x3 with the coop above it. I can’t remember the specifics for the coop. I can move some stuff around to create a couple obstacles after checking it out this morning. HOWEVER 2 of the 3 older chickens are bantams who are actually a little smaller than the newbies so I’m not sure how much protection obstacles will offer since those two can chase them anywhere. I don’t have a huge run because I put them into my enclosed garden almost daily. They get along pretty well in the garden it’s only in the run/coop we have an issue. And I don’t have any males, not allowed to where I live

 

[cindagram]

The coop(s) and run(s) together make up your space system. When all that space is available factors into it. You might follow the link in my post to see some of the things I consider important. I don't believe in magic square feet per chicken numbers, there are too many variables.

A 10' x 20' run should be plenty large enough for 9 chickens all the same age as long as you do not have more than one male. Integration, especially with younger chickens, takes more room. That may be big enough as long as you create ways to improve the quality of the space. Give the chicks places to hide under, behind, or above. Yours are probably too big for a safe haven/panic room. That's where you create a pen with openings the younger can get through but the older cannot. You might put something up on cinder blocks, lean a piece of plywood against a fence (fastened so the wind does not blow it down and crush a chicken), or put a table in there with feed and water on top. Do not create traps but give them a back way out.

Do not try to enclose then in a tight space to force them to get along. Let them work it out. If they want to sleep somewhere away from the older hens let them. At least for a while until they get more used to each other. The size and set-up of your coop can have a lot of influence on how they get along when they are locked in there. When you try that, be there at the crack of dawn to open the pop door so they can get away if they need to. I usually only do that a couple of times before I'm comfortable I don't need to be in a rush but my set-up and my flock is different from yours. What works for me may not work for you.

A lot of us go through this all the time with no real problems. We tend to have a lot of room, in the coop and in the run. We tend to house the younger ones side by side across wire for quite a while, many of us have brooders set up in the coop or located next to the run so the chicks basically grow up with the flock. I integrate five week old brooder raised chicks regularly and never have issues. Others do it a little younger. Others have chickens die. We all have different set-ups and management techniques, what works fro one does not necessarily work for another.

 

[cindagram]

Thank you for your advice. I don’t have any males as I am only having them as layers.
They are almost the same size as my smallest adults so I don’t know that a separate hiding place will work but I will take your advice and try to put in a few more obstacles to help out. Thank you so very much for your response!

 

[Mrs. K]

It is not so much protection from the big girls, as getting out of sight, or slowing the big girls down. I call it bowing to the Queen. The lower birds, need to be able to show deference to the big girls. They need to be able to move away and out of sight of the dominant bird.

I have seen numerous runs, that are just an open rectangle. These runs only use the floor of the run, and there is no place in the run, where as a bird can move to be out of sight of another birds. A lot of people ignore the third dimension of space, the vertical space. This can cause problems. When a bird does not leave, does not move away with enough distance (because they can't due to the fence) the dominant bird takes offense to this behavior and pursues the bird, sometimes relentlessly.

So by cluttering up the run, birds can get behind a mini wall, 'bow to the Queen'. Put some feed bowls so that while eating at one, a bird cannot see who is eating at another bowl. A platform, allows birds to get up on top or down underneath, actually multiplying the space. It is not a separation, but a break in the line of sight.

Another trick, is to put the old hens in the lock up you are using for the chicks. This allows the younger birds to explore the area without being pursued in fear of their lives. They figure out the system, the hideouts, the roosts. Being in a panic mode, they tend to pile up in a corner, and not get away. Allowing them to look and see options can help. You chase them a bit, but not as relentless as a chicken. They will figure out how to use the set up, much better.

Sometimes it is just one hen, that pushes it relentlessly, try adding a few of the older hens, then later, a few more of them.

Good luck,

Mrs K

 

[rosemarythyme]

My run is 10 x 20 and it has a separate feeding station from the bathhouse as well as a little tree branch play area. The younger birds found a way to hide but they were so crammed in a corner and all of the other ones were trapping them in there and would not let them get out. So there was not a way to eat or drink for them.
I did not see blood but feathers were being pulled out. I was just mostly concerned that they would never get to eat or drink. Is this true?

In most cases they'll get to eat and drink, but they have to wait for the older ones to allow it. Even with multiple feeders my chicks have to wait until after the hens go in first (though depending on the hen they might risk darting in for a few bites). If possible, sit down somewhere outside your chicken area and observe what happens in the morning.

As far as the corner problem, if you notice in my diagram, there's not a lot of areas to get cornered in. Most of my obstacles are away from the walls and the ones next to walls actually have cutouts so that even in the corners (i.e. upper right, by feed station and lower mid-left, by water station) the chicks can actually squirt out through openings in the stations.