Not getting along

[TexanInSc]

This is our first venture into backyard chickens. We started our flock with 9, day-old chicks. At 6 weeks we traded 3 cockrells for 2 younger pullets (about 2 weeks younger). The weather was too cold to put one of the new pullets out in the coop with the older birds, so they were kept in the house for a few weeks. They were allowed to hang out together in the yard on warm days and seemed to get along. The weather has now warmed up and I can put the new girls outside in the coop. The issue is that now the established flock hates the new chicks and chases them around pecking them non-stop. Way more than establishing dominance. It seems to us. We tried removing the three most dominant birds from the main coop and putting them in a smaller coop and adding the new chicks to the main coop. We put the new birds to the coop last night and they all slept together, with one of the established birds "snuggling" with the new birds. Fast forward to this morning and we woke up to chicken distress, with the established birds chasing the "new" birds around the coop pecking them. This is without the more aggressive birds in the coop. Help! What am I missing? Do I need to keep the flock broken up for a few days before adding the new birds? Will the new birds ever be accepted? What do y'all suggest? Thanks, in advance, for your help.

 

[Rowsdower]

The pecking will eventually stop. Keep the new birds in a wire cage inside the other birds' enclosure (or nearby where they can see each other but are protected) and let them out together when you can keep an eye on things. You can roost them together at night. Don't be too quick to mother hen them, if they aren't allowed to do a little bit of pecking
things will never sort themselves out. Just be sure they aren't doing too much damage. One of these mornings you will go to let them out and they'll be one big happy family.

 

[Mrs. K]

What does your run look like? Is it a big open space? You need places in the run that the birds can get away from each other, and out of sight of each other. Lean a pallet up against the wall, and set another pallet up on blocks high enough that birds can get under it, and on top of it. Set up roosts in the run too. Make sure that a bird cannot get trapped in a corner.

But this is a very common problem at the age of bird you have. You may have run out of room and have too many birds for the space you have. What was enough space when the chicks were smaller, can rapidly become not enough space as the birds grow bigger.

You need to measure your coop and your run. For ten adult birds, you need to have at least 100 square feet of run, and 30 square feet of coop at a minimum. Your birds are not full grown yet, and will need more and more room.

Terrbile ugly habits happen when birds are kept too close together, and once those habits start, it is very difficult to get them to stop.

You might need to reduce the size of your flock to fit your set up. They will be happier and healthier, they will be cheaper to feed, and you will still be getting quite a few eggs when they start to lay.

MRs K