Old girls beating up the new girls

[JJWHITE]

I couldn't find this topic in any of the threads so forgive me please if I am duplicating a previous post somewhere.
My newest chickens are now about 5 months old. They have been in their own coop and pen for several weeks now right by the old girls. This weekend I tried to introduce them to each other by taking down the fencing that has had them separated. At first everything was fine. Then all of a sudden one of the old hens ran towards my youngsters and started fighting. Even the rooster was scared! At least 3 or 4 of the old girls did this.
My old girls have run of the place. I leave their gate open during the day and they usually end up out in the barn for most of the day. I want to be able to keep them all together in the same pen and let the youngsters start exploring also.
What would be the best way to get them to accept each other? I am afraid if I leave them to their own devices I'll end up with some dead chickens.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Poultrybreeder]

Let them get to each other on a time-scale that you can watch them, keep them apart when you are not able to watch them, little skirmishes are fine, but if they start getting into trouble, stop them before they can hurt each other.

 

[JJWHITE]

That's kind of what we did yesterday. I will give them some more time together. I couldn't believe how aggressive they were!

 

[ronott1]

I couldn't find this topic in any of the threads so forgive me please if I am duplicating a previous post somewhere.
My newest chickens are now about 5 months old. They have been in their own coop and pen for several weeks now right by the old girls. This weekend I tried to introduce them to each other by taking down the fencing that has had them separated. At first everything was fine. Then all of a sudden one of the old hens ran towards my youngsters and started fighting. Even the rooster was scared! At least 3 or 4 of the old girls did this.
My old girls have run of the place. I leave their gate open during the day and they usually end up out in the barn for most of the day. I want to be able to keep them all together in the same pen and let the youngsters start exploring also.
What would be the best way to get them to accept each other? I am afraid if I leave them to their own devices I'll end up with some dead chickens.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

That's kind of what we did yesterday. I will give them some more time together. I couldn't believe how aggressive they were!

Like was suggested above, do this on a day when you are home to watch them.

Wait until night time and put the new chickens on the roost next to the old ones. They will often integrate fine that way. Watch them then next day and remove the most aggressive hen if they are fighting too much--remove any of the new ones if they are hurt enough to bleed.

Remove all of the new chickens if needed and wait until the next day that you will be home to watch them. Keep trying until they integrate.

If the current head of the pecking order will not stop attacking the new chickens, remove her to a separate pen for a day or two. That will disrupt the pecking order and usually helps.

I suspect that the new rooster will step in though.

 

[irol]

I have six older hens. I purchased 9 new hens this spring to enlarge my flock but I am finding integration extremely difficult. So far two of the youngsters are dead and one was injured today so I separated them again. The 2-yr old hens are Barred Rocks but they seem to attack one chick and then pick it's head until it is bleeding or dead. One even flew over the barrier fence and killed one that was injured (it did have blood). I do not know what to do.

 

[Wilmer Gehman]

I would suggest having the younger ones right next to the older ones, but with a wire fence in between. This way they can see them but not hurt them. leave them like that for a couple days and then gradually let them in with the other hens once a day while you watch. If they start beating each other up, separate them again. How old are your new hens? if they are chicks, maybe take them to a different area until they get bigger. Then put them by the older hens and do the process i suggested above. When the young ones get bigger, it will make it more difficult for the older hens to attack them.

 

[irol]

They have been in side-by-side pens for 2 months. I merge them and they seem fine and then one day I come home to find one bleeding or dead in the corner of pen. The new ones have started laying eggs, they were born in March. When I first attempted to merge them they were a lot smaller. So I divided the pen until the younger ones were bigger.

 

[JJWHITE]

Like was suggested above, do this on a day when you are home to watch them.

Wait until night time and put the new chickens on the roost next to the old ones. They will often integrate fine that way. Watch them then next day and remove the most aggressive hen if they are fighting too much--remove any of the new ones if they are hurt enough to bleed.

Remove all of the new chickens if needed and wait until the next day that you will be home to watch them. Keep trying until they integrate.

If the current head of the pecking order will not stop attacking the new chickens, remove her to a separate pen for a day or two. That will disrupt the pecking order and usually helps.

I suspect that the new rooster will step in though.

Let them roost all night? I think I would have to get out there pretty early to let them out to make sure no one gets hurt. It's worth a try!

 

[JJWHITE]

They have been in side-by-side pens for 2 months. I merge them and they seem fine and then one day I come home to find one bleeding or dead in the corner of pen. The new ones have started laying eggs, they were born in March. When I first attempted to merge them they were a lot smaller. So I divided the pen until the younger ones were bigger.

 

[JJWHITE]

Mine have been side by side also with a fence between them. I thought by now they would be used to each other. I am sorry you have lost some of your new ones.