Senior chickens not allowing newer chickens to enjoy the coop

[amandaterillo]

Hi All, I have 5 1 1/2 year old chickens. I recently added 7 more 6 month old gals to the coop. I had them separated for about 4 days. One of the newer girls got into where the older girls were, so then I decided to combine them. I did not want the one new girl to get 'ganged' up on. It has been a week, and the older gals are not being very friendly. They peck at them when they walk past, do not think they are letting them eat when they are around. Also not letting them roost :-(

I have a coop and an enclosed run that I keep them in when I am at work, but then let them out to free roam when I get home. Whenever I do get home the new gals are on the roost and the older girls are in the enclosed run. I am nervous that the new gals are not eating/drinking.

My question is what can I do to get them to integrate better. I acknowledge that I may not have separated them and combined them the best, so I would like to know what I can do moving forward. They do seem to be getting along better than on the first day, but not improving as much as I would like. Any suggestions greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

If there's no cornering and pecking, or blood being drawn let them work it out. Your older hens will always peck the younger ones. As long as the young ones can get away and have their own area they will be okay.

What we see as mean behavior is just the pecking order. It's the way of the chicken. The young ones will always form a separate sub flock within your flock and will always be below your older ones in the pecking order and must give way to the older birds.

Make sure to have plenty of room, places to hide, and multiple feeding and watering stations and things will work out in time.