I put 3 ee in with the 6 older pullets about 10 days ago but they still don't seem to be mingling at all. The 3 just sit on the roost all day until I kick them out of the house to do the feeding and cleaning and stuff and even then they huddle in a corner away from the bigger ones. I have 3 more that I am wanting to put in the big henhouse so that with winter coming I can consolidate the heating of it to just one place. Does/Did anyone have this same problem? I really don't know what to do anymore.
How close are they in size? Do they have some other hiding places out in the yard/run to get away from the bigger ones? Just watch for someone getting hurt (more than the occasional peck) cause once they start they can kill one in a day... also, make sure you have at least 2 sources of food and water because they may try to starve them out of the flock.... ~Rebecca
They share the food and water and when the big ones go outside the littler ones are free to eat and drink, but getting better about feeding time being mixed. Maybe because they are hungry and don't care? We turned the tables on the big ones last week and got the little ones out in the run and had the big ones in the house. It seemed to help as they will intermix a little more, but I guess that I can't figure out why they won't bond. The big ones are from mid May and the smaller ones are from mid July. The younger ones are about 3/4 the size of the big ones so I thought that they would get along.
Since they are not being brutally attacked, all is well. If it seems they won't come down and drink, put a little water container up where they are. Mine did this for awhile, too, and all is fine now. Lasted couple, three, four weeks or so, I guess.
