New Silkie being attacked!!

[Blessing]

Hello,

I got a new silkie hen. I had her penned all day to get her used to the coop. But at bed time I put her inside the coop and my Rooster started attacking her and even one of the hens, I have 3 other hens. so I had no choice to take her out and put her in a box in a shed, she is right beside the chick brooder where I have 5week old chicks. I tried putting her in with them but she just attacks them. What should I do? I can keep her in a pen all day put I'm hoping she will be able to get along with my Rooster or the chicks at least. The Rooster never did this before when my other hens came. Is there any way I can get the Rooster to accept her? Any reply you can give is fine as I need an answer a.s.a.p. as I'm at a loss at what to do.
Thanks!

 

[Top Rooster]

Well any new chicken will get attacked but for minimal amounts of attacks put her in a pin inside their pin or around and keep her there for a week or two, two is what I recommend.

 

[keesmom]

It takes more than a day for the resident birds to adjust to a new flock member. Are your other birds bantams as well?

 

[strangeanimal]

you can't introduce new hens to your already existing flock because there is a peckingorder , the best thing to do is to make sure the new one gets into a pen ( a playpen ) and the ones you already had will get to know that chicken , let it atleast be for a week like that and see if they come along if you put the door of the pen open , just open the door , nothing less or more and watch them , at first it is not unusual they fight , everyone wants to be the highest in rank ! about chicks : you need to wait untill all chickens are about the same size , a small tiny chick is defenseless against a big chicken yet not even aware of danger because those are all ' mama hens ' altough not every hen thinks that way !! Good luck and congrats with your new tropheehen ! ( silkies are pretty )

 

[strangeanimal]

Well any new chicken will get attacked but for minimal amounts of attacks put her in a pin inside their pin or around and keep her there for a week or two, two is what I recommend.

 

[Blessing]

Thank you for your replies!

My Flock is mixed I have one new Hampshire hen, one Sussex hen and one Plymouth rock hen. Also three Plymouth rock and one Sussex chicks. The Rooster and hens free range around a large garden, I'm now thinking if would it be safe for the silkie to also roam free eventually or should I keep her penned and get more silkies. I will be building a new pen for the chicks soon anyway.

 

[keesmom]

Crested breeds are often at a disadvantage in mixed flocks because of their limited sight. Add to that being the only bantam in with LF, she'd probably be better off in a separate pen with birds her own size.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

As a general rule chickens don't give a darn what color the other birds in a flock are. However a chicken's looks, size, and health are all things that can cause a hen to be at the bottom of the pecking order.

It is telling that when the new hen was put into the adults' pen she was at the bottom of the pecking order but that the instant that she was introduced into the adolescents' pen she went on the offensive.

Remember that brood hens who are squiring chicks seem to have a higher rank in the flock than they enjoyed before the hen hatched out her chicks. Another thing is that if the size of the hens are more or less equal a hen with chicks will act like Mike Tyson towards the rest of the hens and this aggression elevates her place in the pecking order.
Aggression is what keeps the pecking order in place.