Lonely Chicken?

[Lottie Gooch]

I'm new to having chickens (long time dream come true). I had a tight knit group of 4, that I got when they were about 6 weeks old. 2 started crowing (about a week ago), and we found the roos another home. My goal was to trade the 2 Roos for 2 hens, but I came home with 5 hens (I hear that's pretty solid chicken math) who were about the same age as the 2 I still had at home. The new hens had feathers plucked out of their backs, feces in their feathers, and one sweet one has a broken toe. I cleaned them up, and 4 of the 5 (a mix between orphington s and Easter Eggers) are assimilating well, though pecked and chased here and there by the original 2 (a buckeye and a white & black brahma). But, the girl with the broken toe (a white barred rock) is pecked at the most, and stays alone in the coop or run while the others free range. She sometimes has a buddy, but rarely. She is so tame....I wondering if she's in shock, or ill, or, forgive the newbieness, but...lonely? I don't want to interfere in the pecking order, but she breaks my heart. Any advice for helping her socialize/assimilate? Or do I need to have a glass of wine and stop hovering over the ladies?

 

[Robin37]

Hello Lottie. .Those are some nice looking chickens

 

[Lottie Gooch]

Thank you @Robin37 !! I'm already in love with them!

 

[Robin37]

Thank you @Robin37 !! I'm already in love with them!

You are welcome establishing a pecking order shouldn't make the barred rock isolate herself. Perhaps she was not raised with the others. How much do you know about the 5 chickens before you got them.

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC. There's a couple of things that you could try. 1. isolate the main protagonist of the pecking or 2. separate the victim and others that are non-aggressive. Here's some links that may be helpful:

http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/adding-to-your-flock
http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/introducing-new-chickens-using-the-see-but-don-t-touch-method
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1098683/introducing-new-chickens-to-old-flock#post_16895615

If you think its worth applying some of the ideas in these links, its perfectly fine to start from scratch and assume that you never introduced the newbies to your two girls.

 

[drumstick diva]

Pork Pie Ken has given you a link to my favorite method "see but don't touch," etc. it is the kindest, gentlest way to integrate new birds to existing ones. Hope it works well for you.

 

[Lottie Gooch]

Thank you so much @Pork Pie Ken! This is so kind and helpful!

 

[Lottie Gooch]

@Robin37, the 5 new hens came from a poultry/egg/breeder farm. They were pretty packed in a kennel run. They had for sure experienced rooster aggression. The timid one/white barred rock has almost all of her back feathers broken. There's even a great big bare knob near her tail-end. I'm wondering if paying for chickens like this deserves a collective BYC community eye roll, but I'm a sucker for the underdog (under chicken?), and convinced myself I could "save" her. She did sleep on the top roost last night! Progress?

 

[Kiki]

Welcome to Backyardchickens.com aka BYC!
We are so glad you joined our flock.

This video will help you learn how to navigate this site:

 

[rjohns39]

Hi and welcome to BYC