Mixed ages flock and fighting

[Ajzer0]

I'm at a loss and need help.

A bit of backstory:
We have 1 black australorp (3.5 years) and she has been alone for about 2 months now. She was part of a flock of 5. It was in limbo whether or not we would get chicks or full grown hens. 2 weeks ago, we had the opportunity to adopt 5 hens from a friend of a friend (her HOA found out she had chickens and was not having it) we have been prepping the coop and run to seperate the australorp fron the new hens. I asked for advice from friends and have been searching online who to safely go about it. Thought I had it down...

Yesterday we got the new hens. There was a miscommunication (I thought they were closer to 3 yrs old) and they are between 6 months and 2 years old. As predicted, the australorp was a bit freaked out about these new birds and fled to the coop. Once she came out of the coop, she slowly started to check her new friends out. Nothing too out of the ordinary until she and another hen, a black star around 1.5 yrs old I believe, started fighting through the hardware cloth. Immediately we intervened and separated the 2 and kept a close eye on them.

As the day went on, it was obvious they were both out to get each other. Blood was drawn a couple times on wattles and comb of the australorp. I have isolated (inside unfortuantly) her due to injuries.

There were a couple squabbles with the others but were resolved quickly without bloodshed. I know it usually takes a few weeks for hens to become one flock. This is my first time introducing new hens and we do not have room for another temporary coop. I am at a loss as to what to do and need advice as to what to do. Thanks in advance.

 

[sourland]

Well, it's too late to quarantine them now so I would simply put them together and let them determine dominance. It's all about the pecking order.

 

[Yardmom]

The see no touch can help ease the process. It sounds like you may have attempted that, but unfortunately they touched. I don't know what your set up is, but could you place the single hen in a cage with a fence around it to create a gap between the birds? When you do combine the chickens provide hiding places. Make sure the hiding places are not dead ends.

 

[Yardmom]

I don't think the age of the birds matters. They are all adult birds establishing pecking order.

 

[Ajzer0]

Thanks, I will try this tomorrow and hope for the best.

We tried to keep the single hen and the new hens divided but these 2 decided they wanted to pack through the hardware cloth barrier. This was more than establishing a pecking order.

 

[aart]

This was more than establishing a pecking order.

No, it was.... who the heck are you in my territory!!!

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/

 

[Ajzer0]

Thanks everyone for the help. Each flock has more than enough water and food stations. We are adjusting barriers again to see if this set up will work better. I know it's just the beginning of a several week process.
What worried me about the whole thing was the amount of blood on one chicken. Again, thanks everyone for helping this integration newbie.
No matter how much you read or hear about introducing new chickens, it dosent get real until you actually have to apply it.