Pullet being a bully

[BlueBaron]

I got my first chickens on Sunday from a swap, a 9 week old RIR and a 6 week old silver laced wyandotte. The only thing I couldnt find while there was an EE. I managed to find a 7 week old EE Monday and picked her up that morning. Everything seemed to be going well until Tuesday when I started to let them out in the run. The RIR has been relentlessly chasing the EE, the poor girl is so frightened she hides under the coop most of the day. The RIR is 100% fine with the wyandotte who almosy seems to look to her as mother hen; and I should mention the three of them sleep together at night.

My question is how long should I wait before saying "this isnt working" and finding an alternate solution (which would likely involve finding a new home for the RIR and getting a younger one)?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Anytime you bring together chickens that didn't grow up together there will be fighting. You need to give it time, weeks possibly, as it's normal behavior. I would put up a area made of wire where you can put the bully in so they can all see each other and interact through the wire. Let the other two become more familiar. You can let them all sleep together but separate them if it becomes too much. RIR are known not to do well in smaller set ups so make sure there's plenty of room for everyone to get away from each other. If you have one of those smaller coops you might want to rethink it.

 

[BlueBaron]

The run seems to be the only area there is a problem from what I have seen. The run is 10' x 4', its on the smaller side but over the recommended 10' sqr/bird.

If I do end up having to seek out another chicken, what would you all suggest that lays very well (5/week would be nice) and bears confinement? When i was reading about different breeds I never came accoss anything that suggested RIR didnt so thank you for the heads up.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Wyandotte and RIR are the most mentioned breeds that have troubles sometimes in confinement and do better with free ranging and large coops. I personally love australorps, they are easy going and lay well, barred rocks and Orpingtons are another two breeds that I would suggest.

 

[donrae]

I'd give it a week or so. As long as no one is getting physically injured, it's pretty normal stuff. As long as the EE can run away from the Red things should be good. You might look into some hiding places in the run, just things to break the line of sight. Your space is a bit small to put much, but even something like a piece of plywood leaned up against the side is good. Roosts in the run add more usable space for your birds. And just moving things around, or putting something like a branch or concrete block draws their attention. Then they have something to focus on besides bugging each other.

 

[limited25]

We put small crates in our run and leave room on all sides so they can either go up or around either way. Seems to work good.