Never member, trouble intergrating flocks for a month now

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kimyey

kimyey

In the Brooder
May 18, 2016
17
2
34
Hi everyone, first off thank you for taking The time to read this and ofer your advice. It's been a month now of no luck in intergrating our 3 new hens. The 3 hens are 14 weeks old and our existing flock is about 21 weeks old. We started by sectioning the new girls off for 2 weeks, we then took down the fencing and since then nothing has changed they continuously get pecked on to the point where they stay in the coop all day :( I've set up many distractions and even tried free ranging they still got chased when they got close... Is this normal after a month? What would you suggest next? I also tried to crate the aggressors for a couple of days. although there isn't any blood yet I just am getting frustrated I don't know what else to do... I hear people say it will just click and they will one day get it but it doesn't seem this way the younger girls are just terrified :((((

Any input with your own experiences would be appreciated.
 
Greetings, kimyey, and :welcome. Pleased you joined us but sorry you are having trouble making your older hens accept the younger. From your description it sounds like you've done everything right. There might be something in this article from the Learning Center that is useful. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/adding-to-your-flock
One thing I thought...are the new girls of a smaller breed? Sometimes established large breeds get pretty nice bossy around small newcomers. Hope something in that link is useful to you. Best wishes!
 
Thank you very much :) all standard hens (quote name="redsoxs" url="/t/1126884/never-member-trouble-intergrating-flocks-for-a-month-now#post_17388638"]Greetings, kimyey, and :welcome. Pleased you joined us but sorry you are having trouble making your older hens accept the younger. From your description it sounds like you've done everything right. There might be something in this article from the Learning Center that is useful. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/adding-to-your-flock
One thing I thought...are the new girls of a smaller breed? Sometimes established large breeds get pretty nice bossy around small newcomers. Hope something in that link is useful to you. Best wishes![/quote]
 
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Hi and welcome to BYC - glad that you have joined us. Having multiple feed stations can ease tensions, but the links given should help you out.

Good luck
Ct
 
Agreed. It does sound like you've taken all the measures for a successful integration. Chickens are creatures of habit and don't like change and you are dealing with tough ages to be integrating. They will get there, eventually. You've received some great advice and links and adding more feeding stations (a good distance from each other) can reduce a lot of tension as @CTKen stated. Sometimes if I have a hen that's being a little too bossy, I use my index finger as they would their beak and poke the bossy one in the chest. Not hard, just enough to make them move. I usually don't even end up making contact with them. I also supervise feeding time so that the birds being bullied have the opportunity to eat without being chased from the dishes.
 
Thank you very much for taking the time to respond I guess it will just one day click, I hope they will soon get along as we have 2 more small batches do intergrate :/
 

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