new chickens pecked until bleeding

[backdoorchicken]

we are in the process of adding three 6month old silkies into a flock of five 2 year old EEs. they are only together during the day and are separated at night. today the lowest of the pecking in the established flock was pecking and stomping the silkies and made one bleed on the back of the head. will this ever stop or will the EEs continue? do i need to just keep the separated forever?

 

[Pinky]

You should separate the new ones in a dog crate or carrier so the others can get get used to them, but not do any damage to them.

 

[backdoorchicken]

for how long?

 

[Judy]

As long as you can -- a month is good.

 

[Pinky]

Quote:
I agree, this should give them all plenty of time to settle down, but it doesn't always take this long

 

[backdoorchicken]

well lucky for us we are almost done building a new coop on the other side of the run from the old coop. i can separate the run down the middle. and the silkies can live in the new coop until the others get use to them. will that work?

 

[Pastor Mike]

Sounds like a good idea to seperate for a month. But do allow them to see each other to get them acquainted.

 

[sourland]

It may work, and then again it may not. Depends entirely on the nature of the birds involved. Chickens are brutal. Think teen age high school girls. They need a target, and silkies with their topknots and mellow personalities are frequently picked upon unless raised with the other birds. I think in chicken nature it goes: "They look different; therefore, they dont belong. Let's kick their butts." Good luck on the integration, but monitor it closely.

 

[backdoorchicken]

it was mostly the one EE that was doing the pecking. and this certain EE is the one usually pecked by the other EEs.


my gf is giving the silkie a bath right now and the silkie is loving it. we may just end up dividing the run forever and getting more silkies to fill the new coop. lol. these silkies are the best chickens ever. so sweet and lovable. if angels were chickens they would be silkies.