Need help integrating chickens to our flock

[Phantom_k9]

Hello!
So we have three different birds that we need to integrate into our main flock. Two of the three hens are good friends with each other, and the other is a mother hen who is raising three chicks (however, she has all but decided that they can take care of themselves). The mother hen used to be a part of the main flock before she went broody and hatched her eggs, but we kept her in the coop for her safety and the safety of the chicks. Now that we have tried to reintegrate her, the other hens don't want to accept her and she has almost developed a fear of them. The roo is more than happy to see her, but I'm sure he can't comprehend the complexities of hen social hierarchy.
The other two have pretty much been with our coop flock their whole life, we let them out for a few hours every night so they can free-range before bed, but they never interact with the main free ranging flock. However, the coop is getting crowded and one of the two has gotten mean so its time to give her the boot.
Thing is with both cases, whenever we kick them out of the coop, they don't want to move with the flock; they just pace outside the coop trying to figure out how they got in this situation. The mother hen does try to join the flock, but she is quickly bullied away by the other hens.

So my question is about how we need to go about integrating these hens into the main flock. We have tried to just let them figure it out, but that obviously hasn't worked yet.
I should add that I am reluctant to even continue to leave them outside the coop, since we have many threats to the chickens around our property that would capitalize on a few birds that are on the other side of the yard from the rooster.
I have thought about confining the outdoor flock and the birds we want to integrate into the whole coop, with us inside the coop as well and the rest of the birds outside. Since none of the birds (except the rooster) want to either integrate or accept new members, I figure that this would hopefully force them to interact? Then at night, making sure that the new additions roost with (or at least on the same side) as the free ranging flock?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[Mrs. K]

Divide and conquer. Generally speaking, kind of sort of, there will be two or three pretty mean chickens, and when they attack, the rest join right in. I do not see numbers of the main flock, but I am assuming that is several more than three.

What I would do is go out to a small distance from your main flock, and toss a treat on the ground - spread it out a bit. Then take note who gets to eat first (generally the most dominant) and who eats last (the lowest bird). You don't want any of them. You want the middle birds - maybe two or three.

Then put the top birds and low birds where ever you have the outcasts now, putting the outcasts and the middle birds together. Watch them, and while there may be a dust up or two, it should not be merciless. Leave them together for several days, until they have settled down. This will also allow the outcasts to explore the coop and run.

Then after a couple of days, depending on how many you have, put a couple more back into the main group. If one or two of them are too mean, separate them again, wait a day or two, and add one back in. I swear they get braver and meaner if there is a buddy. Wait for that to settle, and then add the rest.

A lot of dinking around, but it tends to work, you should be good.

Mrs K