Pecking order initiation

[Brassmaster]

We just put our four 14 week old hens in with the 2 grown up hens. We first removed the older girls from the tractor for a day or so and closed the young ones in the upper part so they would learn where the roost was. The second night we re-introduced the older girls to the tractor. All was well that night.

Naturally the next day the grown up hens gave the younger hens the pecking treatment to show them the pecking order. It has subsided a bit the second and third day but is still going on some. The younger birds spend a lot of their time in one of the corners of the tractor bunched together and sticking their heads out through the fencing. They will ultimately get brave and go get food or water, until they are chased again. In the morning we have to physically take the young ones from the roost in the upper part of the tractor and put them in the lower, and at night we have to take them from the lower and put them on the roosts up above.

How long does it usually take before the pecking order is established and the new birds get into some sort of normal behavior? I really don't want to have to manually move them the rest of their life! LOL Today we didn't move them down. I decided that when they got hungry enough they would come down on their own.

 

[Bookworm chick]

I don't know this answer. Mine have been mixed in since mid-May and the poor hen on the bottom of the pecking order is still getting harrassed. This morning the top hen grabbed her by her wattle and pulled it. The two on the bottom have learned to snatch and run. When I put grass and clover in the run for them, the bottom hens grab and run to the other side to eat in peace. While we still had strawberries, I'd drop a few in the run. These two would snatch the strawberry up and run away with it. They sure learned to be fast.
Luckily I only have 6 bantams in an 8 x 6 run, so they have plenty of room to get away.