New hens and aggressive black chicken

[Lee912]

We recently acquired 2 young Barred Rock hens to add to our flock of 3, one RRR rooster and RRR hen and what I am hoping is an female Asian black. The Asian, upon meeting the 2 new hens, became very aggressive and pecked at them which concerned me. I have them separated but I am at a loss as to what to do, we got rid of the other Asian black we had as he was a rooster and was very aggressive. All the hens that we have now are about 4 months old, including the new hens. Does anyone have any experience with Asian blacks, are they normally aggressive? What should I do about this situation? Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Top Rooster]

The hens are bound to peck at each other they have to establish the pecking order they will fight at first but after a few days they will have figured out who’s top chicken and who’s not and will get along fine.

 

[aart]

Any existing bird is going to be aggressive when new 'strangers' are added to the flock,
they are defending their territory and resources.

Tell us how big your coop and run is, in feet by feet.
Dimensions and pics will help immensely.

How did you integrate that new birds?
Did they get some 'see not touch' time,
or did you just put them into the coop/run??

Integration Basics:
It's all about territory and resources(space/food/water).
Existing birds will almost always attack new ones to defend their resources.
Understanding chicken behaviors is essential to integrating new birds into your flock.

Confine new birds within sight but physically segregated from older/existing birds for several weeks, so they can see and get used to each other but not physically interact.

In adjacent runs, spread scratch grains along the dividing mesh, best if mesh is just big enough for birds to stick their head thru, so they get used to eating together.

The more space, the better. Birds will peck to establish dominance, the pecked bird needs space to get away. As long as there's no copious blood drawn and/or new bird is not trapped/pinned down and beaten unmercilessly, let them work it out. Every time you interfere or remove new birds, they'll have to start the pecking order thing all over again.

Multiple feed/water stations. Dominance issues are most often carried out over sustenance, more stations lessens the frequency of that issue.

Places for the new birds to hide 'out of line of sight'(but not a dead end trap) and/or up and away from any bully birds. Roosts, pallets or boards leaned up against walls or up on concrete blocks, old chairs tables, branches, logs, stumps out in the run can really help. Lots of diversion and places to 'hide' instead of bare wide open run.

This used to be a better search, new format has reduced it's efficacy, but still:
Read up on integration..... BYC advanced search>titles only>integration
This is good place to start reading, BUT some info is outdated IMO:
http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/adding-to-your-flock

 

[Lee912]

My husband made the mistake of letting them into the yard with the other chickens. I separated them when I got home and they are now in proximity to each other but have no contact. The other Asian pullet I suspect is also a rooster so I will be getting rid of him too. I will keep them separated for a while and see how it goes. I have a large fenced in area and roost for the new hens and the coop is where the other 3 go at night. The coop we have is prefab and is supposed to fit 6 chickens but I wouldn't put more than 4 in there.

 

[Nats Chickens]

I have never heard of Asian Blacks before, but my advice is to google them and look it up on Wikipedia about their personalites and other stuff. By any chance, is an Asian Black also called an Ayam Cermani? Just wondering.

 

[Nats Chickens]

Also if you upload some pics I may be able to tell if it is a male or female. Also age please.

 

[Lee912]

It is not a Ayam Cermani and they are both 4 months old

 

[Nats Chickens]

The one at the front is a rooster and the one at the back is a hen. They look like a very interesting breed.

 

[aart]

I'd suspect that both are male. The one in back also appears to have male hackle and sickle feathers. Do you have pics of them when they were 6-8 weeks old?

 

[Cryss]

How did you integrate that new birds?
Did they get some 'see not touch' time,
or did you just put them into the coop/run??

This !

Confine new birds within sight but physically segregated from older/existing birds for several weeks, so they can see and get used to each other but not physically interact.