Putting new pullets with my current hens?

[zeldadog]

My question is do the current hens I've had for a while ever quit pecking at the new pullets? Or do I need to seperate them and put my newbies elsewhere.I know they have a so call pecking order just like someone elses piece of mind on this.

Thanks .

 

[JennsPeeps]

It may take time but the pecking will eventually stop. Keep a close eye to make sure that nobody is injured and separate if necessary.

I've got a pair of chicks who will need to be introduced later this month. The "big girls" aren't too thrilled and our RIR has already attacked the BO chick once. Fun...

 

[RIVERA69R]

You may consider putting the newbies in a cage inside the run so the other chickens can get use to them for a while but not gang up on them right away and let them out little by little

 

[huntermett]

ive had this problem recently i purchased a trio of mature golden laced wyandotte hens and when first introduced to the flock i had to feed them separately from the others or they couldnt eat now the boss hen of the flock has accepted them and they are fine . the only problem is i am baby sitting three young mixed breed stags and they are not polite at all. the three of them try to breed the same hen at the same time imagine three roosters stacked on top of one hen . it gets tiresome shooing them off

 

[zeldadog]

I'm glad I only have one rooster he's not a problem . It's his lady Freinds that don't want to be nice.

 

[Andora]

I've been letting my bigger chicks out of the brooder to walk around in the yard while the chickens are in their pen. The chickens see them and stare them down. For a few days I've let the big chickens out of their pen so that everyone was mingling in the yard...at first they tracked down my poor white Polish pullet and kept pecking her, but now they only give her an occasional hateful glance and peck. I'm more worried about my big Brahma roo, he has already tried to mate with one of my 8 week old chicks, a little blue Andalusian. What is he thinking?? He weighs like 10-15 pounds!

 

[horsegirl]

Make sure you have enough room for all of them, because that can cause this problem.

Otherwise, we have never had a problem with older hens picking on the new pullets, but our flock is free range, so they have no reason with all that room.

 

[Buff Hooligans]

Here is a BYC learning page on how to add new chickens to your existing flock:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2593-adding-to-your-flock

 

[texaschick-a-dee]

It took ours several months to settle down and stop picking on the new lil girls and to stop chasing them away from the food but now they're one big happy flock (for the most part). I never intervened, always let them work out their differences. I figured that the little ones needed to learn their "place".

 

[MammaHen]

I'm no expert on this but when I introduced my new pullets to the old girls I felt really sorry for them, but then I sat down and really watched the goings on for a while and noticed that the pullets are darn cheeky and have no flock manners whatsoever! While they do get the occasional undeserved peck, they really need to respect the old girls (and grumpy men) and learn the ways of the 'hood! They very soon learn that its alot easier to play by the rules. If yours are not free range, (which mine are so theres lots of space to run for cover!) maybe you could provide a really low shelter that the pullets can run to if it gets out of hand. Something like a low upsidedown box with only three sides. Good luck and keep us posted.