Is this normal???

[RachaelPul]

I currently introduced 2 new chickens to my 2 existing chickens, which didn't go as well as I had hoped!! My existing chickens didn't take to the new ones at all and pecked at the littlest one every chance they got. I ended up separating 2 sections in the coop so that they couldn't get to each other at night. However my existing chickens stay standing up all night is this normal? or is this some type of threatening behaviour? Does anyone know?

 

[Circle K]

That is normal. They are showing who is the dominent one...aka who is the head chick in charge....What I like to do for those that are smaller than the rest and/or younger, I separate them until the smaller one(s) have grown and learned a little more "pecking" skills. They do this by playing with each other as chicks.

Hope this helps!

 

[terryg]

There is always pecking and aggression when introducing new chickens to a small flock - sometimes it settles quickly, but other times it can be deadly. There's a lot of variables that you can't change, like including breed, health and age. But there's also plenty you can do to manage it. I have a FAQ about introducing new hens to a flock here:
http://www.hencam.com/henblog/introducing-new-hens/

 

[Happy Chooks]

Give them plenty of room and let them work it out unless there is blood. (assuming they are roughly the same size) There will be chasing, pecking, bullying, etc - it's all the normal process of establishing the pecking order.

 

[RachaelPul]

Terryg, thanks so much for the link above, it answered alot of my questions!! Do you know if is it normal for chickens to poop in their coop?? I read somewhere that chickens never poop where they sleep and lay eggs. My girls poop all over their coop and I am constantly cleaning it out...is there any advice you could give me to stop them from doing this?

 

[mrsc1951]

It is completely normal for them to poop in the coop/where they sleep. Typically they like to go to bed with full crops and normally poop 2-3 times per night. They will not normally poop in the nesting boxes. Good luck and

 

[terryg]

Probably what you heard about was a broody hen - if she's sitting on eggs she only does one, gigantic poop a day and that one she does leave the nesting box for. Otherwise, yep, chickens poop everywhere. I use a pine shavings in the nesting boxes and a kitty litter scoop to keep it clean. 30 seconds every morning (for 3 boxes) takes care of the mess, and then the eggs are clean. BTW, the hens in my Big Barn have nesting boxes low to the ground, so they never sleep there - they prefer the higher roosts. The hens in that barn almost never poop in the boxes. You can see them on the livestreaming cams at www.HenCam.com