Oops, now what do I do?!!

[sezjasper]

Well I've been reading up on "mean girl syndrome" and following everyone's advice as best as I can...and now I'm at the point where I don't know what to do next. In a nutshell: I have five pullets at point of lay or close to it, and three "mean girls" who are one year old. My goal is to have all eight girls living happily together in their new coop...which is a shed conversion, much bigger, stronger, safer and nicer than their old coop. After much juggling, I have the pullets living in the new coop, and the hens locked up in the the old coop with attached run. I think the theory is that when the big girls are finally let back into the flock with the younger girls, the pecking order will be upset and the mean girls won't be mean anymore. Sounds great but...how long to I have to keep my girls locked up to accomplish this? Does it actually work?

Here are my girls in jail...not happy

 

[Judy]

You isolate one bird for a few days or a week when it is attacking everyone, but I've never heard of doing this with 3 birds. One of the tricks for introducing new birds is distraction -- treats, lots of space with hiding places, an area that is new to all of them -- anything new and different. Limited space encourages conflict. Is there any way you can let them all out into a large space, larger than a run?

 

[Faso]

Hi,

I went through this and was worried as well. I actually didn't separate them but added 1 chicken whom stayed perched most of the day because the other two bothered her ALL day if not. When the other two went to lay or off to the side, she would jump down and eat and drink then hop back up on her perch. If they took her perch, she would hang on the other spot.

I was worried every day...Then after about 1 month, somehow, they were all pals. Now they don't bother her at all and they snuggle up at night as if that all never happened.(like high school girls! hehe)

Just yesterday, I added a 4th chicken...I am now going through this all over again. the new chicken runs from the other 3 and the other three chased her a bit. She has been staying away but in time, they will all get along!

I would put them all together as soon as the younger ones are fully feathered and around 18 weeks. They WILL get chased and pecked a bit but it's just the nature of the birds. I had the same concerns and I asked a whole bunch of questions. At least you have 3 to add to 3. Adding 1 to 3 or 1 to 2 is just against the odds to start with.

Good luck!

 

[rboyd]

I made the mistake of putting ten week olds with ten month olds. The BB hens (oldest) beat up one of the BRs and killed one of the RIRs. I divided the coop and have had no problems in it. The BBs still chase them when we put food or scraps out, but the RIRs are starting to fight back. I'm hoping in a couple of weeks to integrate them. Still going to leave coop split so I can put brooders in.

 

[sezjasper]

Thanks for the input...
Before confining the three older girls, I had them all free ranging in my yard for about three weeks. All three older girls were mean to the younger girls, but the worst offender...my RIR...would actually seek them out so she could chase them. The other two were not nearly as bad. I had been advised to isolate all three older girls and then introduce them back, one by one from "nicest" to "meanest," after a while (not sure how long "a while" is!) Does this sound reasonable?

 

[five is my dog]

yeah i think that sounds good but i would put one mean one in with all of the nice ones wait a few weeks then put another mean one thats always how iv'e done it if separating them doesn't work.

 

[Kelsie2290]

Do your old coop and your new coop connect or can they be connected? Is there plenty of room in the new coop and will the birds think it is better than the old coop? My main coop is part of a barn, and out one door there is a smaller coop and fenced area. When I have young hens (I usually wait until they are about 12-14 weeks) I want to integrate with the main group, I put them in the smaller coop for a few days, then open the door to the fenced area so they can get out in/out the main yard etc with the older birds, then a few days after that I open the door to the main coop so they can go in/out that. Eventually the younger ones just start perching with the older ones, it usually takes about a month or so before the last straggler has moved over. The nest boxes are only in the barn coop, I first keep food/water in both the small coop and the main part, but after the door to the barn has been open a week or two and the young ones are going in and out, I only feed in the barn. This really gradual method has been totally drama free so far as anyone getting hurt or anything. But, they do have lots of room (they pretty much free range) and there is plenty of extra perch space.

 

[sezjasper]

Both coops are free-standing in a fenced yard; the older (smaller) coop also has a run attached to it. The new coop is superior in every way to the old one...I don't know that the chickens prefer it, but I certainly do! Eventually I want everyone using the new coop and the old one will be saved for sick or injured birds, or for a new batch of little ones one day (assuming I ever get the courage to go through this again!) Before I put the big girls in chicken jail, they were living in the new coop and one night, everyone went to bed in the there...little girls included. OMG. In the morning when I opened up, out came my three big girls and there was no sign of the little ones. Turned out, they were all hiding behind a bale of pine shavings...all five of them piled on one another, terrified...the poor baby on the bottom, I thought she was dead because she looked so squashed!! That got me so upset I gave up on having them sleep together...the big girls had the new coop to themselves and the little girls went back to sleeping in the old coop. They were all free ranging during the day. My number one mean girl has made it her job to seek out and chase the little ones. Sometimes all she has to do is LOOK at the little ones and they all freak out and run. It's awful

By the way I keep referring to my little ones as "little" but four of the five are just about the same size as my "big" girls! I almost wish they would just gang up on my meanest hen and teach her a lesson!

 

[rboyd]

Amen on teaching a hen a lesson. I got two nasty little girls.

 

[questions543]

introduce one hen at a time over a long period of time... Worked for me also if there is pecking problem pinless peepers are magic and putting teatree oil on the feathers that are pecked at GREATLY discourages pecking. ACV in water and added protein also help. I had a massive problem for over a year and now thats its solved im pretty xperienced with this stuff