New hens keeping to themselves

[Newtochicks21]

Hi - I am hoping someone can offer us some advice. Our family got 2 new hens in mid February. The hens were 6 weeks and 9 weeks at the time. We quarentined them, introduced them very slowly to our established flock of 7 and at this point they have been fully integrated for about 3 weeks.

The 2 new hens are both legbars - 1 is a cream crested and the other an opal. When we first started to introduce them, there was the typical pecking order type of 'fighting', nothing too bad and we kept a very close eye on it. In the past 2 weeks we have noticed that the 2 new ones rarely hang out with the others. They have gotten to a point where they spend most of their time in the coop when all the others are outside in the run. Even when we allow them out to free range - the 2 will not come outside.

We are hoping to get some advice on how to help them incorporate with the others better. Or maybe the answer is that they will work it out on their own and this behavior is just temporary. We feel bad to see them doing their own thing and staying in the coop most of the day when they could be outside.

Thank you.

 

[_-Captain BRM-_]

Maybe take them out and drop them off somewhere where they can see the coop but don't have other hens getting dominant with them. These things take time and you have all summer to let them free range.

 

[My Bagurks]

Do you have any roosters?
I have introduced chickens at various ages to my flock. Some just seemed to have bonded and prefer only their company. Like two friends going to a new school. My flock has a few small clicks that stay together. I even had two hatchlings that did the same. They integrated with no major issues. But they are a year and a half old now and still hang out with each other almost exclusively.
I would check those two and make sure there aren’t any injuries.
Barred Rock Mama is right. Try doing that and make sure they have plenty of room. Then make sure they go in for the night.

 

[Newtochicks21]

We don't let them free range unless we are with them especially this spring as we have spotted a fox a little too close for comfort recently and had a neighbor lose half their flock to a fox (probably the one we have seen around).

They don't appear injured but I have not really inspected them - will do this tomorrow.

We do not have roosters.

Do you think this is a behavior that will pass?

 

[My Bagurks]

They are both young. Young chickens tend to stick with their age group. Learning together.
I’ve dealt with foxes raccoons and possums, Neighborhood dogs and hawks.
Every experience seems to traumatize others. And if something is trying to get in at night it could scare them and put them on edge. Your other older chickens may just shrug it off but younger ones will want to stay in a safe place. Especially if they think something bad is outside of the coop.

 

[Newtochicks21]

They are both young. Young chickens tend to stick with their age group. Learning together.
I’ve dealt with foxes raccoons and possums, Neighborhood dogs and hawks.
Every experience seems to traumatize others. And if something is trying to get in at night it could scare them and put them on edge. Your other older chickens may just shrug it off but younger ones will want to stay in a safe place. Especially if they think something bad is outside of the coop.

Very interesting.

 

[RubelliteRose]

I would just give them more time. It took several months for each of my new groups of chickens to fully integrate with the older ones. Even so, each of the groups will occasionally break off to their own sub groups. Generally they all hang out as one big group though.

 

[Newtochicks21]

I would just give them more time. It took several months for each of my new groups of chickens to fully integrate with the older ones. Even so, each of the groups will occasionally break off to their own sub groups. Generally they all hang out as one big group though.

Thank you. It's nice to hear that your chickens eventually all integrated well.

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC.

It's perfectly normal for chickens to group themselves together by age, by breed, and/or by color/pattern.

Does your run have plenty of "clutter" to break sightlines and help chickens feel more secure?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/

 

[aart]

It's perfectly normal for chickens to group themselves together by age

This^^^
The younger ones won't fully integrate with the olders until the youngers start laying.
As long as they are able to eat drink and rest without harassment, let them work it out.