One hen from exhausting flock not allowing new members into coop

[Chickchick11]

I currently have twelve chickens. Eight original flock members and four new members. The new members are 13 weeks old and have been outside for 6 weeks. They are free range during the day, with a large fenced in property. For the last two weeks my one hen, a year old Ayem Cemani will not allow the younger ones in at night. She attacks them as soon as they try to go in. I recently separated her from the flock for an entire day and put her in the coop that night. For two days she did not attack them, however she did again tonight. All the existing flock does not bother them, and they get disrupted as they are all perched and ready for bed. The hen giving the problem is at the bottom of the original pecking order. Any advice would be appreciated. Also I did do the initial transition outside slowly with lots of time for them to see the the new ones but being unable to get to them. This is not my first time introducing new members. I have never had this much of a problem before.

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi,

It sounds like they're all going to go in at night on their own, if it wasn't for the one hen.

I guess I'd remove her for few more days and by that time, they should be well established and maybe she'll get the hint.

I have no idea why she's exhibiting bully behavior to them when she's lowest in the pecking order. Do you have a rooster in there? I'm thinking one of our roosters would nail her for doing that to them.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I think it is because she's low hen that she's bullying the newbies, Debbie. She doesn't want to fall lower on the pecking order than she already is, so she has to let the newbies know she's higher up than they are.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I currently have twelve chickens. Eight original flock members and four new members. The new members are 13 weeks old and have been outside for 6 weeks. They are free range during the day, with a large fenced in property. For the last two weeks my one hen, a year old Ayem Cemani will not allow the younger ones in at night. She attacks them as soon as they try to go in. I recently separated her from the flock for an entire day and put her in the coop that night. For two days she did not attack them, however she did again tonight. All the existing flock does not bother them, and they get disrupted as they are all perched and ready for bed. The hen giving the problem is at the bottom of the original pecking order. Any advice would be appreciated. Also I did do the initial transition outside slowly with lots of time for them to see the the new ones but being unable to get to them. This is not my first time introducing new members. I have never had this much of a problem before.

How big is the coop in feet ( L x W) and how many chickens total are we talking about?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Is she not letting them in the coop, or harassing them off the roost? Any photos of your set up?

 

[Perris]

The hen giving the problem is at the bottom of the original pecking order.

as BigBlueHen said, this is the key. She is insecure and does not want the teens to push her down from 8th to 12th in the pecking order. It is just a phase until the teens grow into their adult places in the flock. If you don't intervene it will sort itself out sooner or later.

If you don't want to do that, perhaps you could separate the pop door bully just before roost-time, and see if the teens have an easier time of it? Once they are in, then let the bully in just before closing up.

 

[Chickchick11]

Hi,

It sounds like they're all going to go in at night on their own, if it wasn't for the one hen.

I guess I'd remove her for few more days and by that time, they should be well established and maybe she'll get the hint.

I have no idea why she's exhibiting bully behavior to them when she's lowest in the pecking order. Do you have a rooster in there? I'm thinking one of our roosters would nail her for doing that to them.

We don’t have a rooster currently thank you for the advice.