New Chickens Problem

[BeLaL]

Hello everyone. i am new here and i really got some good information from you guys. thats why i decided to join the web site.

well i got problem with my chickens.


I have 5 buff orpington chickens and all of them almost 6 months old. i got them when they were babies. So lately i decided to buy some chicks and raise them, well i got sex linked, and 2 americanas, one of them turned to be a rooster. they are now almost 3 months old i have no problem putting the rooster with the big chickens but not the new ones with the old chickens when i put them together my old chickens go and peck on them, so what do i have to do to solve this problem?,

2- another question. Thanks.

my chickens are almost 6 months old. and some of them are already laying eggs. but the question is. at what age the chickens will start having babies? i dont know about now because they just start laying eggs and the eggs are not full size yet.

Thanks alot.

 

[ellie32526]

Hello Belal,
I'm afraid there may not be much you can do to make them get along. If you have one dominant one, you can try pulling the bully chicken out into a separate pen beside the others. Then the rest will form a new pecking order and may accept your other hens. Give them something to do to distract their attention. Food, scratch, or maybe a hang a cabbage for them to peck at. Keep an eye on them to make sure they don't attack each other. If they peck and draw blood it will start an attack and all the chickens will join in. So be ready to pull one out if they start that.
If all goes well, after a couple weeks you can try re-introducing the bully back into the group, but it may not work. You can't make them be social. You may have to just divide your coop and have two flocks or build another coop for the new hens. Sorry I could give more positive news. Let us know how you resolve this.

 

[BeLaL]

Thank you so much for your help. Well i guess i have to find them another home.

Sorry,, but what about the second question ?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

It is best to wait until 16 weeks to integrate chickens into an older flock. I have gotten away with earlier, but if you want to do it by the book, wait until 4 months of age. It also helps to take a nice hen (lowest on the pecking order) and put her in with the younger chickens for a week or two. Then she may be friendly to the new group.

I have read that it is best to let the hens set when the eggs are a little larger (not their first pullet eggs) but hey I have a hen right now sitting on some eggs and she has only been laying for a month or so. We'll see how that turns out!

When they go broody and want to set, you can put some eggs under them for them to incubate. They stop laying when they go broody and growl at you when you come near the nest box.

Also- if you have a large group of youngsters and integrate at an earlier age, that tends to go over better than integrating just a few younger pullets into an established group of hens, as there is just too many of them. The older hens kind of get tired of chasing away the younger ones and tolerate them better from my experience.

There will be some pecking as you integrate but if it appears that someone is about to be killed, or blood is drawn, or the older hen isn't backing down and is going for blood, get them out of there and try when they are older.

 

[BeLaL]

Thanks alot. yeah i will see whats going to happen.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Hope I'm not offending you by clarifying that your pullets will not have fertilized eggs until the young cockerel starts to breed with them, which probably won't be for another month or so. If the cockerel is an Americana, it is most likely what folks call an Easter Egger or EE, and he may carry the gene for laying blue eggs. If crossed with your Orpingtons, any hens that you get will probably lay pretty green eggs.

 

[lynyrd]

from what I understand from all good advice I have gotten here, some pecking to be expected. Do not interfere unless blood.