New chicken help..

[webstertroy88]

I have just set up my first coop with my kids.. we have all hens 2 2month old 2 5 month old and after having them about a week we got a rir laying hen from a friends.. I put them together at night right away one of my 5 month olds started fighting with her.. after a few minets they stoped.. The adult hen went into the nesting box.. Box but wouldnt let anyone into the box.. any help would be great...

 

[Emptywagon2]

Chickens do not like change...that includes new coop mates. They will peck eachother for a little while to figure out who is boss. They should settle down after a week or so...just keep a watch on them to make sure no blood is drawn. They should be fine though.

 

[nurse_turtle]

Chickens HATE change. When I stapled feed bags over their coop windows for winterization, they refused to go back in their own coop. I removed a couple coverings and half of them have agreed it's okay to go back in there. The other 5-6 still refuse and are sleeping at night on top of the shed.

 

[Ukiah]

webstertroy88!

The pecking order has to be established.

I always recommend to quarantine any new birds. By just throwing a new bird into the cage with your
current birds, you risk infecting all your birds with a disease or illness that the new bird could possibly have.
Next time, I'd quarantine for 30 days or so.

I recommend putting the new hen into a crate, then setting the crate in the coop with your current chickens.
This way they can interact with each other - but no one gets hurt. After a week or two of this you can let her
out under your supervision. Closely watch - theres gonna be a peck or two here or there, but as long as there
is no ganging up - pinning the bird into a corner and repeatedly flogging the new bird, blood being drawn, or
any injuries - theres no reason to worry. The pecking order will get sorted out soon enough.

Good luck