New chickens being pushed out by rooster and original flock. 6 weeks noe

[FluffyFarm]

Help, what do I do. I introduced 4, 16 week old hens to my established flock. The rooster and other hens are only causing trouble with them if they want to eat or try and join the flock.

Should I take the older hens out for a while so the rooster might bond with the younger hens.

They free range too.

 

[sourland]

Provide multiple feed and water stations so that they get enough to eat and drink. Eventually they will integrate into the flock.

 

[FluffyFarm]

Provide multiple feed and water stations so that they get enough to eat and drink. Eventually they will integrate into the flock.

Thanks!

 

[aart]

No.... no separations, let them work it out.
Younger birds usually stay as a separate 'sub-flock' until they start laying.
Curious if the rooster has tried to mount the youngers or not?
How old are your older birds?

 

[Mrs. K]

This is perfectly normal and is called a sub flock. They will remain a easily visible sub flock until they start to lay, and then the sub flock disappears and they will be one flock. It is kind of neat to see. Do NOT separate. Separating birds tends to cause more problems. The rooster will ignore the pullets mostly until they get ready to lay.

Do make sure that you have more than one feeder, and placed so that a bird eating at one feeder cannot see a bird eating at another. When I have sub flocks, I try and have several feed stations positioned behind or under pallets, or a large cardboard box, a small piece of plywood, anything so that they are out of sight. My rule of thumb is one station for every 4 birds.

Mrs K