My big girls won't let my new girls on the roost. They keep shoving them off. Every night is a fight. This has gone on for over a week. My new ones are 21 weeks old. They have been together for almost a month with the young ones going back into their grow out coop to roost for the night. Fairly peaceful during the day, but at night it's battle for a roost spot time. Should I add another roost or will it eventually resolve itself? Thanks.
If they don't have enough space per bird, you should add another roost. There should be about 8 to 12 inches of roost space per bird. If they do have room, I saw on another thread somebody made a cardboard barrier that sectioned off part of the roost so the obnoxious birds couldn't see the younger one and thus didn't pester them as much.
Whilst the rule of thumb for roost space is 1ft per bird, as always with these generalisations, the more space, the better. Providing there is sufficient space, i would let them work it out - all will be well (eventually). Roosting time is always a good time for squabbling and pecking, so it seems! CT
If at all possible to add another roost by all means do so, just a little lower than the main roost and as far away as possible. They may eventually merge and share the space, but my pullets are 6 months old and most of them, most the time, use the separate roost.
In addition to adding an additional roost, you might be able to realize better integration by simply moving roosts to a different location or even turning them at a right angle horizontally.
