Need help with hens fighting....Weird situationI'm having trouble while introducing two new hen to a flock of 6 hens. My origional 6 hen are about 18 months old. I introducted two new (6 months old) hens and the fighting started. The new hen were very meek and mild. I had intruduced them via dog crate for a few day first and then snuck them in the coop one night. The old hens picked on the new ones for a couple days and had them cowering in the coop. i also noticed a couple day ago the the old hens started picking on one of their own. Now we had the two new hen cowering plus one of the old ones. Now today I come home today and find the new hens seem to be getting along find with the old hens but the old hen that wa sbeing picked on is really beat up. All feather on her head are gone and her head is bloody. WHAT IS GOING ON HERE? I have put the beat up old hen on the dog crate inside the run to isolate her so she can heal up. Any guidance would be thanked as I am lost. Thanks, Will
i somewhat have the same problem..introduced 10 newbies to a flock of 2 roos and 1 hen...got rid of the 2 roos, so 1 hen to old flock... since they were put together my EE has almost literally been eaten alive...she tries to hide in the corner and the others have picked her backside so bad that skin started to come off...the first time wasn't so bad, i took her out and when she healed i put her back in..that morning is when they tried to "eat" her...i have her in a seperate pen by herself...i'm afraid to attempt a third introduction thinking they might kill her...the older hen has nothing to do with her..it's the flock that she grew up in that are attacking her...i don't understand what's going on..i tell her they are just jealous because she's much prettier they the other hens!!! hopefully someone can shed some light on this!!!
In the first case it sounds like they had had enough of her sh*t and just didn't take it anymore! Let her get all healed up and put her back in. Maybe she'll have learned something and be nice now.
I had a similar problem with one of my pullets when they were still in the brooder. I was getting ready to introduce the younger ones to the flock. I knew they would have a hard time since they were my third group and it would be 12 against 6. The younger group picked one of their own and her back was bloody and raw. I knew she wouldn't survive the introduction so I found her a new home. She is doing quite well there and I think I made the right decision. The rest had the usual chase and peck initiation but no one was bloody so I concider it a success. It did take about a week before they started to settle down. It can break your heart watching them being chased around. The younger ones still get the occasional feather pull but for the most part all is well. They are all about the same size now so that may have something to do with it. They still seem to hang in groups with their hatchmates though.
