Is some pecking ok?

[Ruby roost]

I have two 6 week old white leghorns that I am trying to integerate with my 14 week old flock. The 2 leghorns are 1 roo and 1 pullet. My 13 week old flock consists of 9 pullets and 1 bantam rooster. I have them in a separate cage inside the main pen area so everyone can see each other and usually just let the babies out for an hour per day to mingle with the older birds. The bantam rooster seems to be protecting them from my road island reds and my old English bantam pullets, the 3 of them are the most curious and aggressive with the babies. I have 2 silkies, 2 buff Orpingtons and 2 seabright bantams that don’t even care that they are there. Is this normal for them to be picked on, should I just let nature happen or should I keep them separate?

 

[Mmanist]

I leave my babies out when my grown flock is free ranging. Sometimes if they are not free ranging, I'll leave their cage open, and give them plenty of places to hide if needed. I start out with a hr or so, and gradually increase the time. It works for us! Usually I dont see much pecking. Except from a couple of my hens. My roosters are always really good with the young chicks.

 

[Mmanist]

Im not sure if I answered your question, in my other post. But some pecking is ok. Long as it's not continuous.

 

[Ruby roost]

Thank you for the advice. How long does it usually take before you don’t have to keep them separated any longer?

 

[Mmanist]

Well my 5 maybe 10 week old chicks are probably going to have their cage removed next weekend. They are still small, all bantam sized except for a Maran. So I wanted to make sure they have a safe place to sleep. I didnt want my standard flock to jump off the roost on them. They have figure their pecking order out this pass week that I've been integrating them together.

 

[aart]

and usually just let the babies out for an hour per day to mingle with the older birds

If this goes well, just let them go, see what happens.

Here's some tips about.....
Integration Basics:
It's all about territory and resources(space/food/water).
Existing birds will almost always attack new ones to defend their resources.
Understanding chicken behaviors is essential to integrating new birds into your flock.

Confine new birds within sight but physically segregated from older/existing birds for several weeks, so they can see and get used to each other but not physically interact.

In adjacent runs, spread scratch grains along the dividing mesh, best if mesh is just big enough for birds to stick their head thru, so they get used to eating together.

The more space, the better. Birds will peck to establish dominance, the pecked bird needs space to get away. As long as there's no copious blood drawn and/or new bird is not trapped/pinned down and beaten unmercilessly, let them work it out. Every time you interfere or remove new birds, they'll have to start the pecking order thing all over again.

Multiple feed/water stations. Dominance issues are most often carried out over sustenance, more stations lessens the frequency of that issue.

Places for the new birds to hide 'out of line of sight'(but not a dead end trap) and/or up and away from any bully birds. Roosts, pallets or boards leaned up against walls or up on concrete blocks, old chairs tables, branches, logs, stumps out in the run can really help. Lots of diversion and places to 'hide' instead of bare wide open run.
Good ideas for hiding places:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/

 

[Ruby roost]

If this goes well, just let them go, see what happens.

Here's some tips about.....
Integration Basics:
It's all about territory and resources(space/food/water).
Existing birds will almost always attack new ones to defend their resources.
Understanding chicken behaviors is essential to integrating new birds into your flock.

Confine new birds within sight but physically segregated from older/existing birds for several weeks, so they can see and get used to each other but not physically interact.

In adjacent runs, spread scratch grains along the dividing mesh, best if mesh is just big enough for birds to stick their head thru, so they get used to eating together.

The more space, the better. Birds will peck to establish dominance, the pecked bird needs space to get away. As long as there's no copious blood drawn and/or new bird is not trapped/pinned down and beaten unmercilessly, let them work it out. Every time you interfere or remove new birds, they'll have to start the pecking order thing all over again.

Multiple feed/water stations. Dominance issues are most often carried out over sustenance, more stations lessens the frequency of that issue.

Places for the new birds to hide 'out of line of sight'(but not a dead end trap) and/or up and away from any bully birds. Roosts, pallets or boards leaned up against walls or up on concrete blocks, old chairs tables, branches, logs, stumps out in the run can really help. Lots of diversion and places to 'hide' instead of bare wide open run.
Good ideas for hiding places:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/

Thank you! These are some great tips!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Is some pecking OK? It depends on the kind of pecking. It is called the pecking order for a reason.

More mature chickens outrank less mature chickens in the pecking order. It's not that unusual for a higher ranking flock member to peck a lower ranking member when its personal space is violated. When they are all mature adults this doesn't happen all that often except maybe on the roosts when they are settling in for the night. The highest ranking get to sleep where they want, any lower ranking one better get out of the way. When there is an age/maturity difference this urge to peck seems to be much stronger. It usually doesn't take long for the younger birds to learn to avoid the more mature. You'll often see them form a sub-flock avoiding the others as much as they can, both during the day and where they sleep at night.

They need enough room to avoid the older ones or run away if they are pecked. Typically when the immature one runs away life is good but occasionally there may be some chasing to reinforce that lesson. If there is not enough room to get away the mature one doesn't see that it won. It considers that the other one is challenging ts authority. This is when pecking gets dangerous, the immature one tends to hunker down and try to protect its head, the mature one goes after the head with serious intent to do harm.

Occasionally you get one that is just a brute, she will go after any weaker chicken no matter what. From my experience these are really rare. What is not that rare is that a chicken will go after any stranger that invades its territory. This is where housing them across wire can help. If they are not strangers they are less likely to attack.

It's hard to emphasize how important room is to integration. The more you have the better. In my opinion this is the cause of most of the horror stories you read about on this forum. People do manage with less space but it can be harder. Adding clutter to what space you do have can improve the quality of your room. As Aart said, give them places to hide and break the line of sight.

My definition of a successful integration is that no one gets hurt. That's it. No one gets hurt. Mine form different sub-flocks and co-exist by staying apart until they all mature enough to work out the pecking order. There are exceptions to this, they do mingle more than this sounds like. But I let them work that out at their own pace. I give them as much room as I can and that is practically always really peacefully. But when you mention "pen" I think I have a lot more room than you do. Just go slow and be patient.

 

[Ruby roost]

Is some pecking OK? It depends on the kind of pecking. It is called the pecking order for a reason.

More mature chickens outrank less mature chickens in the pecking order. It's not that unusual for a higher ranking flock member to peck a lower ranking member when its personal space is violated. When they are all mature adults this doesn't happen all that often except maybe on the roosts when they are settling in for the night. The highest ranking get to sleep where they want, any lower ranking one better get out of the way. When there is an age/maturity difference this urge to peck seems to be much stronger. It usually doesn't take long for the younger birds to learn to avoid the more mature. You'll often see them form a sub-flock avoiding the others as much as they can, both during the day and where they sleep at night.

They need enough room to avoid the older ones or run away if they are pecked. Typically when the immature one runs away life is good but occasionally there may be some chasing to reinforce that lesson. If there is not enough room to get away the mature one doesn't see that it won. It considers that the other one is challenging ts authority. This is when pecking gets dangerous, the immature one tends to hunker down and try to protect its head, the mature one goes after the head with serious intent to do harm.

Occasionally you get one that is just a brute, she will go after any weaker chicken no matter what. From my experience these are really rare. What is not that rare is that a chicken will go after any stranger that invades its territory. This is where housing them across wire can help. If they are not strangers they are less likely to attack.

It's hard to emphasize how important room is to integration. The more you have the better. In my opinion this is the cause of most of the horror stories you read about on this forum. People do manage with less space but it can be harder. Adding clutter to what space you do have can improve the quality of your room. As Aart said, give them places to hide and break the line of sight.

My definition of a successful integration is that no one gets hurt. That's it. No one gets hurt. Mine form different sub-flocks and co-exist by staying apart until they all mature enough to work out the pecking order. There are exceptions to this, they do mingle more than this sounds like. But I let them work that out at their own pace. I give them as much room as I can and that is practically always really peacefully. But when you mention "pen" I think I have a lot more room than you do. Just go slow and be patient.

Thank you for the helpful tips! I appreciate the help