Need a solution, having a hell of a time integrating newbies in

[Riahchu]

So I have an established flock of 3 hens that have all been together for about a year. They're different ages and breeds but they all get along okay.

A couple months ago my roommate convinced me to get chicks. I had been wanting a few more birds so I thought, sure no big deal.
I did some research and decided I wanted some silkies. (I wish I had done more research, mostly because they're soooooooo tiny and I had no idea they would stay so small.)

So now I have two silkies that are about 4 months old, who were raised with my two beautiful blue copper maran's who are about 5 months old and all four of them get along no problem. I've had the chicken run divided with chicken wire for as long as they've been out of the brooder and for several months this worked out great. The adults stayed on their side, the "babies" stayed on theirs and we didn't have many problems. A few weeks ago I started opening the space up to allow all the chickens to co-mingle now that the babies are of integration age. I knew that there would be some bullying as the pecking older was established but oh my god, I don't know what to do. It's to the point where now the fence is back up to protect the silkies, because even at 4 months they are so insanely tiny, and I keep finding my black copper maran Bella on the baby's side several times a day, harassing the hell out of the silkies.

I know that I need to separate her from the flock for 1-2 weeks to stop the bullying. I know from everything I've read that ideally she needs to be far enough away that she and the others can't hear/see each other. I don't have the space in my backyard to do this. I also don't have any way to keep her effectively protected from predators in all of the separation situations I can think of. And on top of everything, she's a black chicken and it's forecasted to be over 100 all week long. So I don't know how I could also keep her cool.

Killing/rehoming her is not an option.

Any suggestions? I had considered putting her in a crate in the run for a week or so, "chicken jail" if you will. But many people have stated she needs to be fully separated.

 

[Wicked Storm]

@Eggcessive i know I tag you a lot

 

[Kloie Grace]

There is a few things you could do:
First: Keep them apart until they are alot bigger
Second: (Please dont kill me) You may have to flick a chicken in the head if you catch her in the act. (Not a proven way to stop picking on)
Third: Build a roost like so: It establishes a pecking order; put the silkies on the bottom

 

[sourland]

Integrating silkies into an established large fowl flock generally is problematic. They are smaller, milder tempered, and they look different. If the other hens are generally accepting of the silkies, I would try crating the trouble maker in a shaded portion of the pen for a week, and then giving her return a monitored try. Hopefully she will be too busy reestablishing her position with the other hens to pick on the silkies.

 

[Riahchu]

There is a few things you could do:
First: Keep them apart until they are alot bigger
Second: (Please dont kill me) You may have to flick a chicken in the head if you catch her in the act. (Not a proven way to stop picking on)
Third: Build a roost like so: It establishes a pecking order; put the silkies on the bottom

I don't think they're going to get too terribly bigger. They're so small! I've also tried the flicking thing, as well as the pushing them to the ground in a dominance type thing. Neither has prevented her from continuing.
I might try the roost. Thank you!

Integrating silkies into an established large fowl flock generally is problematic. They are smaller, milder tempered, and they look different. If the other hens are generally accepting of the silkies, I would try crating the trouble maker in a shaded portion of the pen for a week, and then giving her return a monitored try. Hopefully she will be too busy reestablishing her position with the other hens to pick on the silkies.

I think that's what I'm going to have to do with her, as the other hens are mostly leaving them alone. Thanks!

 

[Eggcessive]

I raised a couple of silkies and a couple of other bantams in my original flock, and they were fine since all were raised together. They were the lowest in pecking order. But bringing in new silkie chicks would be very difficult with an established large breed flock. And black copper Marans that I have had are more agressive and huge. I would be tempted to keep the silkies in a separate coop and run.

 

[Mrs. K]

You might use the size difference. Instead of removing the dividing fence. Lift it off the ground just enough that the silkies can go under it easily, where as the bigger birds cannot. You could even attach a board to the bottom of the wire, as that will block the line of sight.

This lets the silkies work out the integration, they venture forth, when it gets to be too much, they scuttle to saftey.

I have also had luck with a pallet laid on the ground and then just lifted a little bit. I often will have a feed station there.

Mrs K

 

[Pghelp]

There is a few things you could do:
First: Keep them apart until they are alot bigger
Second: (Please dont kill me) You may have to flick a chicken in the head if you catch her in the act. (Not a proven way to stop picking on)
Third: Build a roost like so: It establishes a pecking order; put the silkies on the bottom

Love this roosting perch! We're in the process of integrating 2 mo. old chicks with established old ladies and this perch looks like a great idea. Regarding the silkie question, one thing we've done is hook the coop door so that it's just wide enough for the littles to get in but the old ladies are too wide. This means I've been able to leave them unsupervised but when the littles have had it with being chased and pecked they can go lounge in the coop. My setup us two small coops side by side but they're shut in separately at night. We're working on full integration and in the process of designing and building a new walk-in coop that better meets our needs. Having chickens of different breeds can be fun but also a challenge!

 

[Riahchu]

You might use the size difference. Instead of removing the dividing fence. Lift it off the ground just enough that the silkies can go under it easily, where as the bigger birds cannot. You could even attach a board to the bottom of the wire, as that will block the line of sight.

This lets the silkies work out the integration, they venture forth, when it gets to be too much, they scuttle to saftey.

I have also had luck with a pallet laid on the ground and then just lifted a little bit. I often will have a feed station there.

Mrs K

This is genius! Thank you so much!

 

[NatJ]

I know that I need to separate her from the flock for 1-2 weeks to stop the bullying. I know from everything I've read that ideally she needs to be far enough away that she and the others can't hear/see each other. I don't have the space in my backyard to do this. I also don't have any way to keep her effectively protected from predators in all of the separation situations I can think of. And on top of everything, she's a black chicken and it's forecasted to be over 100 all week long. So I don't know how I could also keep her cool.

Separate, safe, cool: sounds like you need a crate inside the house!

Although I think Mrs. K's solution is probably even better.