Old hens not liking new friends.

[kgriffith]

I have two 6 month old easter egger hens (not laying yet but am told it takes a while with them) and I purchased 3 new 20 week old pullets black sex link hens. I built a new larger coop and figured that if I put them all together in a new place it would work out. The 3 black sex link are very mild mannered but my older easter eggers are picking on them. They are ganging up on them and wont let them out of the coop during the day and if one comes out they chase her and peck her until she goes back to the entrance to the door. They did this for about 2 days and finally I just took my easter eggers and put them back in the old tractor next to the run on the new coop. Is this the way to go? I figured I will keep them there for about 3 days so that they can see the other hens during the day and I will add them to the roost on the third night. Any advice?

Thanks

 

[BigDaddy'sGurl]

I had/have a similar situation too and have posted a similar question before. I had a happy coop of four girls and one guy until I added a couple of new birds. My old girls turned vicious! We are still dealing with issues and the "newbies" are still being picked on but they are slowly venturing out and about more so we have hope! Give it some time but if you are like me and can't stand seeing your newbies harassed and have the option to keep them separate, I would do so.

 

[stilldeb]

I don't know if this will work for everybody, but what worked for me was to first let them all out in the yard together (after they had been cooped next to each other for awhile and were used to seeing each other). There was lots of room to get away from each other if need be, but I found that other than the occasional small argument/chest bumping episode, they pretty much ignored each other.

deb g

 

[Judy]

This (what stildeb said) seems to be what works best for a lot of people. When you combine them, it also helps to distract them with treats. I'd keep them separate but where they can see and hear each other for longer than 3 days, at least
Here's a good article: https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2593-adding-to-your-flock a week.