Irritating Chicken Dynamics!

[The Happster]

Ok so I have 9 chickens, two of which are roos. They are in three separate groups, one rooster has three hens, one has two, and there are two hens on their own. The two girls are apart from the other groups because my rooster has a scab on his comb and I'm sure they are pecking it. So I thought I'd give him a bit of a break from them and a chance to heal. All good there. But I would like to have just two groups. Unfortunately, both of the two girls who are separated at the moment will attack my top hen from the group I want to put them in. She's a fairly old hen now, and I don't want her to get hurt. Is there any way I can influence the pecking order? If they are left together they will fight. What I did do was put the girls with the group and watch them carefully. I thought if they were outnumbered it might help. The two other hens actually seem to protect my top hen.
Does this make any sense?

 

[Mtnboomer]

When you say separate groups I am assuming you mean separate runs? Or do they break up into separate groups while free ranging?
There is nothing you csn do to influence the pecking order. Nature will sort that out for you.
What you can do is provide maximum space possible with plenty of escape snd evade opportunities. If the lower birds have plenty of space to stay out of the way of more dominant birds, the squabbling to establish the order will be diminished. Once the order is established, the subordinates will avoid the dominant birds.
To help minimize confrontations,you can provide multiple feeding and watering stations
Competition for resources is the main cause for fighting.

 

[The Happster]

Yeah, separate runs.
Well I kind of managed to do it before.... My oldest hen kept fighting a younger hen, and that hen is particularly nasty, and can peck really hard. So I took them together and kind of shielded the older one a bit, and then the other hen got pecked and ran off. It was a bit flukey though. I was wondering if it would work again. But I don't want to risk anything with an elderly hen. If I let them fight it out, will she get badly hurt? Thanks for the reply.
Also, is it possible to let all the chickens go together? I have two roos and seven hens...I was just wondering what the risks would be, and if they would hurt eachother badly. I know they'd probably have to fight it out.

 

[Mtnboomer]

I would think that your early success was simply them working it out. Most pecking order fights or squabbles are very shortlived and look more vicious than they really are. Unless there are 2 birds convinced that they are equal. My guess is that if they were to "fight it out" one would give way long before any serious damage occurred.

Generally speaking you want 10-12 hens per rooster to prevent fighting amongst the roosters and over breeding. However, nothing in this world is absolute. I have successfully kept 2 roosters with 10 hens without either issue. They were brothers raised from birth together and never fought. I free range though so they had essentially unlimited space and often broke into 2 flocks during the day and then returned to the coop and they all roosted together at night.
These 2 were the good brothers of 4. The other 2 roosters were constantly fighting and beating up the girls. They became freezer meat.
Rooster fights are much different than hens establishing a pecking order. Two dominant roosters determined to rule the roost can inflict serious injury or even fight to the death. Hence the reason cock fighting is considered inhumane and illegal in most states. The severity will depend upon the birds.

 

[Mtnboomer]

Integrating flocks is best done by allowing the different groups to live closely to each other where they can be seen and heard and even feed together while being separated with fencing. This will help greatly in reducing the fighting because each group will not see the other as being total strangers.

 

[The Happster]

Thanks so much for your replies. We do have a fair amount of space. They don't ever go very far from the house though. My two boys are brothers. I was wondering what the chances of them ever being able to be together was. Maybe if I get more birds at some point I'll be able to have one big flock. I just love to see them all together. I definitely don't want any to get hurt though. They're all pets.

 

[Ridgerunner]

How old are they? I find that maturity levels can be very important in this.

 

[The Happster]

The eldest two are not far off 5 years. Most of the rest are under 3 years. The youngest two are only a year.

 

[Mtnboomer]

Thanks so much for your replies. We do have a fair amount of space. They don't ever go very far from the house though. My two boys are brothers. I was wondering what the chances of them ever being able to be together was. Maybe if I get more birds at some point I'll be able to have one big flock. I just love to see them all together. I definitely don't want any to get hurt though. They're all pets.

Since they have been separated, assuming most of their mature life, I'd venture a guess and say they will not get along well now (unless more hens are available).

 

[Mtnboomer]

The eldest two are not far off 5 years. Most of the rest are under 3 years. The youngest two are only a year.

My current flock is much, much younger but my 1st year with chickens we started with (6) 3 yr old hens and 2 yr old rooster. We added a few chicks and by the 2nd year we had 4yr olds, to 4mo olds all running together. The older usually larger birds were dominant but the flock was always peaceful (after a day or two of integration).
We started butchering our birds in our current system now so that no hen exceeds 10mos and no rooster exceeds 6mos so long as timing and weather works out. We do have one old hen at 5 yrs old now who has been on the proverbial chopping block for a long time but it has never worked out for her to make it to the real one. Almost like its not meant to be.
Anyways, sorry to ramble, but age usually translates to dominance, but not always. In any case, once the order is established and integration is made slowly, the flock will become peaceful.
In your case, I see no reason why all your birds can't be together so long as spatial requirements are maintained and one rooster is removed or adequate hens are provided. Until then, they may be hsppiest as they are now.