Introducing New Chickens

[wildscape19]

So I recently got two new chickens and am having some trouble introducing them to the rest of the crew. My current chickens are about two and a half months old and the two new ones look to be about two weeks younger. When putting them into the coop, the older chickens pounce on them to the point where I have to pull them out. Will this always be the case with the two new chickens? I'm hoping that I can separate them for a while, and once the two new ones are a bit older I can try and reintroduce them. Any ideas?

 

[Kulyks]

If they are only two weeks older, there's not that much of an age difference. You could wait until they're a little older and the difference doesn't show as much, but there will still be pecking, because there are new chickens invading the existing chickens space.

You know, this is just an idea, and I haven't tried it myself (I don't have enough space), but I've heard that when you introduce both sets of chickens to each other on territory that is unfamiliar to them both, neither will have the advantage - they'll both be "the new ones," and won't peck as much. But again, that only works if you have enough space (a whole separate coop), which I don't, so I haven't tried that method myself.

 

[Darklingstorm]

You can also section off a place for the newest but were the others can also see them. That way they can get used to each other without serious harm being done. After a week of this, they shouldn't be attacked as much but there will still be some pecking.

 

[wildscape19]

Thanks for the advise. Yeah I knew there would be some pecking, but this was pretty intense. If I would have left them in there, they probably wouldn't have made it.