Introduction Issues

[CuddleWoozle]

Long time lurker, first time poster.

My problem is this:

We have a mixed group of 'babies'. Seven of them are much larger than the others (Barred Plymouth Rock and Golden Laced Wyandottes) and were picking on them badly. They're about 3/4 the size of the older chickens we have.

So we decided to try introducing them into the flock as a big group. Things didn't go too badly, no one got killed and eaten.

They were getting chased and bopped a lot, so I used an extra section of fencing to make them a little pen. I made the youngsters a door that they can squeeze into and out of, but the larger chickens can't. (Well, with the exception of Einstein. She's just too smart for her own good...and she's tiny. But she doesn't seem to care about the young ones and just wanted to drink from their waterer.)

Sometime during the day my well-meaning neice ran all of the babies into the pen and shut their door so that they couldn't get out and socialize. >.< (Does this mean I'll have to start all over again?)

I went down to run the bigger chickens in and one of my Golden-Laced Wyandottes is missing a lot of her feathers from the 'shoulder' of her wings and has next to no tail feathers left. D:

Is this as big and serious a problem as I feel it is? I'm worried that the Wyandotte is being abused, but it may just be that she's destined to be at the bottom of the pecking order.

Kind of funny because the two roosters don't care at all. They came over, looked the young ones over and went off to search for bugs in the grass. I guess General Tso and Mister Red have better things to do...like stuffing their beaks.

 

[CherishHolland]

I sent my husband to pick up 4 new chicks he came home with them and a full grown 18 month old rooster. I am doing introduction through the fence,the new roo is a bantam with attitude and I am fearing he will hurt my younger rooster. So for the next couple weeks it is socializing through the fence then slowly moving him into the run until I can just slip him into the coop one night. That is my plan,for now he has a quick thrown together mini coop in a divided section of the run. I am hoping my plan works,good luck with your introductions and pecking order is enough to drive a sane person crazy!

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Sounds like you did things right. Making a place only the babies can get to is a great way to do this, and you can keep giving them starter/grower without the hens wolfing it down.

Chickens aren't smart, but they are smart enough to recognize flock members. Your niece didn't hurt a thing. Just carry on the way you've been doing it so far, and they'll get everything sorted out eventually.

As far as your GLW, I think you'll have to spend some time chicken-watching to find out why she's losing her feathers. If everyone in the flock is picking on her, then yes, she's just at the bottom. But if just one hen is really going after her, then you can put pinless peepers on just that one hen and stop the bullying. Finally, I'm not sure a chicken did this to her. It honestly sounds like she narrowly escaped a predator that tried to grab her.

 

[CuddleWoozle]

Thanks everyone.

I'm glad that we're managing to do things right and that them getting closed up won't hurt anything. It seemed like a couple of the little ones caught on and just kind of submitted to the bigger chickens. Like "OK! You're the boss, Boss." They were the ones who seemed like they didn't have as many or any feathers missing.

To clarify: the Wyandotte is one of the 'babies'...I wasn't sure if she was getting mobbed by the others or not. No one was missing, but that doesn't mean that something wasn't sneaking around while I was gone. Our neighbors have a dog who likes to capture their chickens. She doesn't kill them, just catches them and carries them around in her mouth. O.O I don't think she can get in at ours, but it's something I worry about all the time. I'll keep an eye out sharp for anything suspicious. I did have one hen in particular who was being really mean today. (Which earned her a very unflattering name.)

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

I misread and thought your GLW was one of the hens.

I think she'll probably be OK once she's back to your original arrangement and can get away when she needs to. Or, I am serious that pinless peepers can be a lifesaver when there's that one hen that just won't quit.

The missing feathers all of a sudden is definitely a sign of predator attack, though, so watch your defenses!

 

[CuddleWoozle]

I just looked up the Peepers. We were thinking about getting some to have on hand if we needed them anyway, but we might have to fit everyone with a new set of 'spectacles' if they don't stop pulling feathers out.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

I just looked up the Peepers. We were thinking about getting some to have on hand if we needed them anyway, but we might have to fit everyone with a new set of 'spectacles' if they don't stop pulling feathers out.

They're cheap, easy to put on, and you can take them off easily. If you have a hen that just is too aggressive, you can put them on and leave them on for a couple of weeks, then take them off and see if she's calmed down. If she hasn't, she can wear the peepers some more.

Instead of buying the ridiculously expensive pliers the hatcheries sell to put them on, look for "snap ring pliers" at your hardware store. Same thing, but cheaper.

 

[CuddleWoozle]

Thanks for the advice on the pliers. I was sure that we'd have some kind of pliers around that would work. It's not like there aren't three drawers full of them in the garage. XD