New chicken and Bully

[Zarathous]

Hi,
I am trying to integrate 2 new pullets (14 week old) to my flock of 2 hens (cochin and legbar). I did the separation for a week (a dog crate by the run) and let them free-range together the 2nd week (but separated at night). The 3rd week I put the 2 new ones in the run. The legbar would not let the pullets be. I removed the legbar. After 3 days, the 2 pullet and the cochin are not in love but they make it work and everyone goes to sleep together.
I am not sure how to reintroduce the legbar. She is still "charging" the pullets when she sees them even when there is a separation, climbing on whatever cage/ run/ coop they are in. I am tempted to put the four of them in the coop one night, but I am afraid the legbar will hurt them.

I will welcome idea and feedback

Set up: large eglu coop, 9 ft run, free range at least 4h (up to 8h) during the day

 

[Evadig]

Hi and ! Perhaps you could try pinless peepers for her? They obstruct the hen's line of sight so she can't see her victim as easily (she can still go about her business). https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/pinless_peepers.html

 

[Ridgerunner]

With my flock my immature chickens tend to avoid the adults until they mature enough to stand up to them and force their way into the pecking order. Until then they keep a distance between them. Each flock is different, sometimes they can mingle quite well very young, but often if they approach a mature hen they are likely to get pecked or worse. Some mature hens are pretty laid back and don't have a problem accepting younger birds but some are terrors. It just depends on the personality of the individual bird.

I think you've handled it very well. One of your hens has accepted the two young ones. Due to the personality of that one hen she's still a problem. It sounds like she is OK when they are free ranging, they have plenty of room. It is only when they are forced to be close together that there is a problem.

So what can you do? One option is to let them continue to free range together but let them sleep separately. Don't force them to be close together. Sometimes the hen will accept them after a few weeks of this. Sometimes she will not until they start to lay eggs.

You can keep that one hen isolated for a while longer. It could even help if she is somewhere she cannot see the others. This might knock her down in the pecking order enough that she stops being the top hen and stops being a problem.

I would not try to put them together at night. Sometimes that works but she has shown a potential to be a real problem. When you try that overnight thing you might wake up to a bloodbath in the coop. I'd want to be able to observe when I put them together so I could separate them if I needed to.

People go through what you are all the time to different degrees. It is frustrating and aggravating. It helps to have a lot of room. Your Eglu and run should be big enough once they are integrated but integration often takes more room. Goo luck!

 

[Zarathous]

With my flock my immature chickens tend to avoid the adults until they mature enough to stand up to them and force their way into the pecking order. Until then they keep a distance between them. Each flock is different, sometimes they can mingle quite well very young, but often if they approach a mature hen they are likely to get pecked or worse. Some mature hens are pretty laid back and don't have a problem accepting younger birds but some are terrors. It just depends on the personality of the individual bird.

I think you've handled it very well. One of your hens has accepted the two young ones. Due to the personality of that one hen she's still a problem. It sounds like she is OK when they are free ranging, they have plenty of room. It is only when they are forced to be close together that there is a problem.

So what can you do? One option is to let them continue to free range together but let them sleep separately. Don't force them to be close together. Sometimes the hen will accept them after a few weeks of this. Sometimes she will not until they start to lay eggs.

You can keep that one hen isolated for a while longer. It could even help if she is somewhere she cannot see the others. This might knock her down in the pecking order enough that she stops being the top hen and stops being a problem.

I would not try to put them together at night. Sometimes that works but she has shown a potential to be a real problem. When you try that overnight thing you might wake up to a bloodbath in the coop. I'd want to be able to observe when I put them together so I could separate them if I needed to.

People go through what you are all the time to different degrees. It is frustrating and aggravating. It helps to have a lot of room. Your Eglu and run should be big enough once they are integrated but integration often takes more room. Goo luck!

Thanks... The legbar has never been the top one... it is indeed the one in the bottom, that what is it making it weird to me.
The night separation is not ideal, the legbar sleeps in the nesting area of the eglu for now...

 

[rosemarythyme]

Thanks... The legbar has never been the top one... it is indeed the one in the bottom, that what is it making it weird to me.
The night separation is not ideal, the legbar sleeps in the nesting area of the eglu for now...

Actually it's not, lower ranked birds are far more likely to bully young newcomers because they don't want to lose more ranking.

Going to be tougher to integrate with the eglu because realistically there's no space to add barriers to separate birds in one, versus a more traditional coop and roosts. I'd consider caging her separately in the run for the time being.

 

[Zarathous]

Actually it's not, lower ranked birds are far more likely to bully young newcomers because they don't want to lose more ranking.

Going to be tougher to integrate with the eglu because realistically there's no space to add barriers to separate birds in one, versus a more traditional coop and roosts. I'd consider caging her separately in the run for the time being.

Hi Rosemary,

You mean caging the legbar in the run with the 3 other in the run? I have not though of that. The free ranging has very little success.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Hi Rosemary,

You mean caging the legbar in the run with the 3 other in the run? I have not though of that. The free ranging has very little success.

Yes to caging the bully. But I meant for nighttime since you specifically said the issue was cooping them together at night. I'd want the new birds (and the existing hen that's not causing issues) to have the opportunity to learn to get along in the coop, without having a bully wrecking things.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Rosemary is correct, often it is the lowest ranking hen that causes the problems. I made a wrong assumption.

let them free-range together the 2nd week (but separated at night).

It sounds like they are OK free ranging together but that may have changed. If they can be peacefully together let them. If they can't then separate that hen. At some point those two pullets should mature enough that they can work it out. But it can take time and patience.

 

[Zarathous]

so I went to see them tonight quite late, and everyone was in the coop... Well, 3 in the coop and one in the nesting box... I closed the door earlier than sundown and left