Need HELP with integration, PLEASE!!

[Chicks on DL]

I have 2 BRs and 1 Comet. We got a new BO who is soooo sweet but the comet (Belle) and one of the BRs (Ariel) can't stand her.

We have 1 BR (Obama) that doesn't seem to mind her at all but I can't put her in the nice coop my DH built because Belle and Ariel attack her. We have the BO (Goldy) in a separate enclosure that is connected to the run so the other three can see her but not get to her. Poor girl sits in a pet carrier at night to sleep. Goldy is so nice that she is the only one my DH will let out while he works in the back yard and she just follows him around. So my question is how long until they will accept her? Anyone have any tricks? I really don't want to have to have two coops: one for the good girls; and one for the bad girls (the princesses). While roaming the yard everything is fine as long as Goldy keeps her distance from Belle. We have tried short visitations one-on-one in Goldy's pen but Belle and Ariel still attack her.
Anyone have a magic wand? I am at my wits end with the princesses.

 

[AkMartine]

I tried to introduce a new hen to my flock but they've never gotten along. Good luck with yours! Have you tried introducing them in the dark, or having them run together with you there to stop any fighting?

 

[K-12 Chickens]

It takes time for existing hens to accept new hens(I had to introduce a spunky black star pullet and a meat bird pullet to 7 hens ; long story!). How bad is the fighting between your hens? I would feed my pullets along with the hens and that kind of helped them to see each other but be distracted with food.

 

[sourland]

If Belle is the primary attacker, remove her and run the new hen with the other two. Once they acclimate, (a matter of days not hours) reintroduce Belle and monitor how things progress. Hopefully she will have been knocked down a peg or two in the pecking order. Chicken society is not a 'pretty' thing.

 

[Chicks on DL]

Sourland,

Belle is the trouble maker. The last couple of nights we have put Goldy in the coop at night but Belle will start attacking her after breakfast and then we have to let Goldy out. She is the nice hen so she gets to run around all day while my DH works. Surprising that DH will carry her around and put her on a branch of tree so she can watch him work.

Today we couldn't stand to watch so we decided to separate Belle. I'll keep you posted how this works out. We are hoping to knock Belle down a bit.

 

[Chicks on DL]

Belle did not like her new accommodations. Granted the small pen with a pet carrier is not as nice as the chicken condo DH made but Goldy didn't complain. Tough love is really hard and I felt bad as she paced in her pen and it took her a while to settle in.

 

[chezpoulet]

Best of luck! It took a while for my lone Ameraucana to integrate with my existing flock of 4. She is now part of the flock, 9 months along, but sometimes still chooses to have her "alone time" away from the main flock when they are let out to free range. She is still reminded every now and then that she is at the bottom- some chasing, a firm peck or two, but my flock has never tried to draw blood, thank goodness.

I remember how harrowing it was to watch when we first put her together with the chickens. We did try doing a "get to know you" time with one other bird at a time, so she was not attacked by the entire gang, and that seemed to work a little better. Playing chicken referee was tough. Lesson learned: never introduce just one chicken, and next time I'll have a HUGE coop so I can have different flocks!

 

[Chicks on DL]

I am not very patient and we love our Goldy. I will pray that one day they will accept her but she seems to prefer people.

 

[Chicks on DL]

UPDATE: Can't beleive it has only been 5 days because it feels like 2 weeks. Try to let Belle in the coop and she attached Goldy like she wasn't going to stop until she killed her. So I reached in and grabbed her and put her back in the small pen. Now she isn't alone because I had to put Ariel in there too. I let them all roam together but Belle still chases Goldy around. All I want is a little tranquility in my flock.