Need some advice on "pecking order"

[slordaz]

I got 2 chicks about 3 days old and took home a sad lonely looking duckling , then the next day we added in 3 chicks probably 4-5 weeks old that had come off hold, luckily as the older chicks were introduced after, the duck thinks it's in charge and they don't seem to argue as she is enjoying playing momma even though she is pretty young and fuzzy still. she is bigger than they are.

 

[Peeps61]

Your two day old chicks are looking for a mama! Any fuzzy creature that they can get under will do. I had an older chick that I bought some younger chicks to keep company. The younger chicks all felt like the older chick was mom and stayed underneath her all the time. Now, out in the chicken tractor, they still hang around close to her, but do wander around doing their own thing.

 

[slordaz]

I hear ya there, kinda worried as next week we are getting some older chickens and a rooster, as they are going to be free ranged, so chicks will still be in coup for a while, there's a second coup being built for the older ones to keep them separated for quarantine period. Not sure how well the lone duckling is going to take to that, but when they get outside the duck may take off with the family of ducks that live there while they are here they've raised their ducklings in her pasture for the last 3 years.

 

[manicfarmer]

I figured this one out the hard way. This is my fist batch of birds. Hatchery shipped too many making my brooder overcrowded very quickly. I had a number of different breeds which didn't help things. Noticed a bloody chicken and everyone chasing him around pulling out his tail feathers. I removed him and put him in a dog kennel. That worked for several days but then more bloody chickens started showing up. By the end of the week I had 9 birds in there and was having to shift gears to get my chicken tractor finished. Put the birds out in the tractor at 3 weeks (a couple weeks earlier than I wanted to) and the first couple of hours everything was fine. Then I noticed they started pecking at one again and he got a bloody butt. So I pulled him out and put him in the kennel and was trying to figure out how to handle the situation. So then I figured instead of making that dog kennel a chicken hospital, maybe I needed to make it a chicken jail. After all, there were 9 chickens in the little dog kennel and they never pecked at each other. So I put the injured chicken back in the tractor and the pecking started immediately so I removed the pecker. Then another started pecking so I removed him as well. After removing those two birds (we called them Bonnie and Clyde although they are probably both roos because they were warmer chicks sent from the hatchery), no one touched any of the injured chickens. They were way too occupied on fresh grass and being on a pasture for the first time. I isolated those two birds to figure out what to do with them. They clearly were not happy when I put them back in the chicken brooder alone. They just stood around all day doing nothing. I was going to pass them on to a buddy of mine but decided to give them one last shot at integration into the flock. After about a week of isolation I put them back in the chicken tractor and I guess they learned their lesson. They haven't been pecking at other chickens any more. I obviously took the very indirect route to what most folks are suggesting (isolate the bad bird and not the good one). I hope a longer time out period gets your egg layers integrated back into the flock successfully. Best of luck!

 

[dewdrp]

Glad to be reading all these suggestions, as I am wanting to get a couple new girls, but last time I brought a new ones home some of the others were really being mean so this has also been very helpful to me. I usually have Rhode Island reds.

 

[Alycea]

Great information! I have inherited the care of 3 chickens and a cockerel. All are different and all proper personalities in their own rights. I have noticed the pecking order in the group, which I find interestingly is not based on size (possibly breed?). (Little brown chicken is alpa, followed by the larger grey one, then the black one - our shy girl.)

What I have noticed is that their combs seem to match in size their position in the order, rather than size of bird. Is this just a fluke or is this typical? (I understand in rabbits it is the size of their whiskers that tells you which is alpha.) Hoping somebody can ease my curiousity.

 

[SDDiver5]

Update. I have not done anything new with the chickens. I have a big test for work I am studying for so that takes up all my time.

Hopefully Ill be able to do something this weekend.

It's been almost 3 weeks I think since we took the bad hens out of the coop. I read somewhere that it is a good idea to re introduce them at night? Thoughts?

One more thing, right now its just my B. Orphinton and my black chicken in the coop. I've noticed that even the B. Orph is starting to get in my black hens face a little. It seems that they all just get annoyed with her being around.

Thanks!

 

[ChirpnBern]

Hi, I think you have been given a lot of good suggestions. I would definitely focus on separating and building a bigger coop. I know the Eglu you got said it was rated for up to 5 chickens, but I wouldn't put more than two in it. Perfect for separating a sick chicken, a mean girl or letting a broody hatch her chicks but not for the whole flock to share.

I would build a coop that is at least 4x6. bigger would be better especially if you will be getting more chickens. I know everyone says one nest box should be fine for four hens but since they already are being territorial about it I would build 2 or 3. Make sure you have good ventilation and roosting space. Take a look at the coop forums for good guidelines.

Also just wanted to say that I think your white chicken is an Amber Link/Amber Star, it's the opposite coloring of a Red Star/Golden Comet. The mother would have been a red hen (Rhode Island, New Hampshire or Production Red) and the father a white rooster with the silver gene such as Rhode Island White. It's the opposite parenting for the reds. I agree that your black hen is probably a Cochin or a Cochin mix. You know the Buff Orpington, but I have no idea what your brown and black one is, she has a very long tail, almost looks like a game bird.

Best of luck!

Ah. Yeah, when I first saw the pics I thought it was a rooster, had to reread to see how old it was. Maybe the game in her adds to the aggression.

 

[RnRRidgerunner]

Hi Everyone,

Thank you so much for your advice and opinions regarding this matter.!

I put the aggressive hens in "time out" a week ago. Yesterday I attempted to reintroduce the bad hens to the pen. I started with the hen that is less aggressive and that usually follows the lead of the more aggressive hen. Man oh man was it bad. The second I put the hen back in the coop she sprinted over the my poor black hen and full on attacked her, cornered her and pecked the crap out of her. I let it go for a maybe 30 seconds because I thought maybe it was reestablishing the pecking order but it didn't stop so I went in the coop and pulled the mean one back out and out her back in the time out pen. Then I tried the other hen and the same thing happened. So currently they are both in the time out pen again for at least another week, most likely a little longer.

I read somewhere that reintroducing a hen might be better at night so I will try that next time I attempt this.

There was ample amounts of food and water in the pen when I reintroduced them which I thought might help so I'm not sure if thats something to do or not to do?

One thing I noticed is that when I put them back in the pen, both times my nice black hen instantly freaked out and started making noise and tried to avoid the hens and was running around. Almost like a trauma victim reliving their trauma. Any advice on that?

I'm willing to try reintroducing them one more time. If not, I think I might get rid of some of them. I'm not sure which ones to get rid of...my mean hens are definitely the most reliable and consistent egg layers...but then again they are really mean and dominant and kind of annoying. The other nice hens are not as consistent egg layers and they are little wimps and don't fight back...but then again they are nice and honestly kinda cute. Another reason I am willing to try it one more time is because my backyard doesn't have that much space left and the time out coop is kind of in the way and inconvenient. Any advice on which ones to make soup out of and which ones to keep please let me know!

Again, thank you all for you help!!

I would suggest you ear mark the two nasty hens for the cooking pot and get two more docile hens that are proven egg layers, like your buff orpington. (Of course there is no guarantee they won't establish a pecking order) I have two barred rock and two rode island reds and just introducing two younger pullets the buff orpingtons. One of the BR's is aggressive toward the two Buff's, I had to step in between a couple of times and she even got aggressive with me. I grabbed her by the neck and gave her a gentle shake to show her who is boss. The Buff's are gentle and stick to each other for safety. If she shows that aggression I will try the time out method. Has anyone used a spray bottle for discipline, like a dog or cat? Good luck!

 

[slordaz]

We made a jail in the coop today to separate our trouble makers, as the younger chicks and the older duckling were so upset that the jail was originally outside of the coupe, but we have a couple that are confused the older duckling thinks it's a momma hen now and one of the 8 week old chicks thinks she's a momma duck, the duck is having a little trouble accepting new members to the flock even though she knows they are there as well as the 6-7 week old chick, the younger ones and the older ones did fine with it.

This seemed to work and will try reintegrating them later, the young chicks established a new pecking order in less than 30 minutes without any problems just the younger chics and the older duckling at first had some separation anxiety