I had four full size chickens and two Silkies living well in my coop. One Silkie (my alpha girl) went broody and I tried to hatch some chicks for a friend. The day of hatching, one of my birds (#2 in the pecking order) stole the hatchling and ate it. I got rid of the girl that was the ringleader (who was also eating eggs) immediately. I got an 8 week old sexlink and a 1 1/2 week old chick. I put the chick under the Silkie and they bonded. The chick got out into the coop and my remaining chickens took her and almost killed her. She and the Silkie are in a dog crate in my kitchen and doing well.
I have had the sex-link in a separate cage/run for two weeks. I put the full size girl who is lowest in the pecking order in with the sex-link to "make friends" so I could add the new girl to the flock with an advocate. Unfortunately, my full size girl is really terrorizing my sex-link. Every time she gets near her, the full size girl attacks and the young bird is literally terrified. As for as I can see, there has been no blood, no permanent damage, nothing but charging, pecking, and being mean.
Do I just let them work it out? Do I remove the older chicken to protect the younger one and try again when she is older and more compatible in size? Do I wait until my baby (4 weeks now and still recovering) is old enough - and healed enough - to be put with the sex-link and introduce them together?
This chicken thing is SO much harder than I expected!! :0/