New pullets being driven away from coop…

[CooperCats]

I have 9 chickens, barred rock, Rhode Island red, australorps and americana‘s. Three of them are a year plus old and six of them are spring of 2022 pullets. The older hens are driving the younger ones away from the coop when they try to go in. The younger hens have to make several attempts to get in and if the older hands see them they drive them away from the door. How do I get that to stop happening? The six younger hens are all old enough to be laying by now but not all of them are. I also I’m having a problem with the younger hens roosting on a roost outside of the coop and have been going out after dark to put them inside the coop to roost every night. Any suggestions would be appreciated! Pics for reference, the roosting pic is a few months old, and the run/coop pics are from before the new pullets were added

 

[Happy hen lover]

How many inches of roost do you have? Is there more than the one bar shown? I've had to play referee a time or two. Manually moving them to roost is best for sure but I've used squirt bottles and poking them with sticks to straighten them up at times. Roost time brings out the pecking order the most.

 

[rosemarythyme]

The roosting pic is a roost in the run? What does the inside of the coop look like? How many linear ft in roost space, and how many roosts total? How far are the roosts apart (if multiple?)

How big is the coop overall?

 

[3KillerBs]

How big is that coop, in feet or meters?

How much roost space is available?

The Usual Guidelines

For each adult, standard-sized hen you need:

• 4 square feet in the coop (.37 square meters)
• 10 square feet in the run (.93 square meters),
• 1 linear foot of roost (.3 meters),
• 1/4 of a nest box,
• And 1 square foot (.09 square meters) of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation, preferably located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.

9 hens

• 36 square feet in the coop. That would be at least 6x6.
• 9 feet of roost
• 890 square feet in the run. 8'x10' is a nice looking number but, remembering the common dimensions of lumber, a roomier 8'x12' is actually easier to build. 6'x14' looks good on paper but would require a lot of weird cuts.
• 9 square feet of ventilation.
• 3-4 nest boxes.

Those numbers are usually considered minimums and integration usually requires extra space.

It's quite normal for the existing flock to refuse to allow the newbies to roost with them, especially when the new birds are pullets who are not yet laying.

 

[ChicFil- A]

I have 9 chickens, barred rock, Rhode Island red, australorps and americana‘s. Three of them are a year plus old and six of them are spring of 2022 pullets. The older hens are driving the younger ones away from the coop when they try to go in. The younger hens have to make several attempts to get in and if the older hands see them they drive them away from the door. How do I get that to stop happening? The six younger hens are all old enough to be laying by now but not all of them are. I also I’m having a problem with the younger hens roosting on a roost outside of the coop and have been going out after dark to put them inside the coop to roost every night. Any suggestions would be appreciated! Pics for reference, the roosting pic is a few months old, and the run/coop pics are from before the new pullets were added

I love your set up it looks well organized, Chicken behavior fascinates me, It’s very difficult to watch how they are relentless when introducing anything different into the coop!
This was my second attempt to introduce new flock members, give the younger a place to hide… stools ladders anything so they can find cover and in just a few weeks they will earn their pecking order! it’s the nature of the order

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

You will probably have to manually put them in for a few nights. How did you integrate them and how long have they been integrated?

 

[teach1rusl]

Some questions have been asked that might help answer your question...how large is the coop, and how many linear feet of roost space is there? If you only have one roost, you might add a second.
With the hens blocking the entrance, by the time the hen(s) get up on the roost, it's darker inside the coop than outside, so the pullets are roosting outside...that's my guess. You might try a solar light inside the coop (solar panel outside) or battery light that you turn on in the evening and turn off once they're inside (light means safety). But a second roost (with the hens not being able to reach/peck the pullets) would probably help the most.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I just realized how old this thread is. I'm sure op has figured it out by now lol