Is this supposed to happen?

[purplerice27]

Hi! This is an update regarding an earlier post I made about integrating new birds into an existing flock. I put her in last night in the coop, and they all made it through this morning when suddenly, my two ISA Brown hens just went at her and did not stop until I intervened.

This is the damage they did. At this point, is this normal? Do I still have a chance of adding her to my flock? And can someone describe or explain the "pecking order process?" I know it can get rough but I don't know how rough it will get and how long it will last. Please help me!!

 

[Poultrybonkers]

Take the bullies out for a few days to redo the pecking order otherwise they will pick on the singled out one

 

[coach723]

Chickens can be brutal, as you've seen. I don't know what was said in your other post, so if I'm repeating previous advice I'm sorry........
I always use a gradual integration approach where current and new birds can see each other but cannot get to each other, so temporary parallel run, or crate, fenced off corner of the run, etc.
This can take days, or weeks, depending on the birds. Let them stay that way, see but no touch, until no one is really paying much mind to each other anymore. Then I start letting them be together for gradually lengthening amounts of time, under supervision, so you can intervene if it doesn't go well. Once everyone is together with no real conflicts you can leave them full time. If it doesn't go well together, then back up and give it more time. There will be pecking order spats but they should be short and not murderous. There is no 'set' amount of time for how long it takes to integrate, it takes as long as it takes, the new bird is an interloper until it's accepted. I don't rush it as I'd rather deal with two runs than nurse wounded chickens. Also, when you do put them together make sure that there is adequate space for them to get away from each other. Not having enough space to escape will only make it worse. The key is patience.

 

[theoldchick]

Pinless Peepers for everyone! Just kidding. Hens can be the darndest critters when they decide to turn on someone. What you should do is partition an area of your coop where the new hen can be seen but not touched by the others. After a few days you can allow her to be with the flock. However, once this happens it can happen again if space is limited. You might have to divide up the feeding stations. Throw feed on the ground all over the place to allow the new gal to eat without getting in anyone's personal space. You'll have to keep watch, and if the aggressors are the same birds, put them in timeout for a few days. And if you continue to have problems put Pinless Peepers on the the troublemakers as a last resort.

I recently had a problem with a hen getting picked on and was treating the lesions with blue salve. I didn't know which hen was being mean until I put the treated hen back in the coop. Just her being out of sight for a few minutes then put in the coop set off the aggressor. So I immediately put blue salve on the aggressive hen and everyone else in the coop including the rooster. Everyone was so horrified that they left each other alone.
I've been known to put chicken aprons on aggressive birds and they are so mortified they forget to attack. It's like they are embarrassed or something. Hey, it worked for me!