Well I tried my attempt at making things easy and introducing my new members to the flock early. I put a box for their feed into a box with a door for them only to fit in. they didn't fare so well. I know for a fact that I am missing one girl and a few others have been pecked a little too much. I know I sais I was going to try this and let everyone know how it went and now I know that it was a bombed idea. I have worked all day to get them into a new pen and worked into the night. We have a pen we used to put a goat in and now I have surrounded it with one inch wire and finally got them into there and to safety. Just so everyone knows this was a bad idea. I am hoping it wasn't one of my roos or I am going to have to get another to replace him.
don't feel bad, I tried sort of the same thing. I had three silkie hens in with young Copper Black Marans, five roos, three pullets. Over time, the roos started treading the poor little silkies and I made a pen within a pen, that the silkies could go in and lay their eggs and have their adult lay pellets and clean water unmolested and get away from the large roos. Well, they didn't stay in the pen much on their own and the roos nearly wore their backs down in a week and I was afraid I was going to find one dead, so I put a roof on the little pen, and closed them in it. They didn't like it but at least they are safe and I don't have to worry about them any more. It is funny, now that they are safe behind the bars, they charge the roos and peck at them when they can through the wire which is two by four inch holes. The roos must have been pinched a few times, because when they see the silkies put on their game face, by golly they scatter!
Now that is a funny turnout. I should have known better, but I was thinking if they have a good spot to hide then everything would be great and man oh man was I wrong. I wish i knew some of them had been pecked like this. I would have made sure I took them out before they had gotten this way today. I did what I thought would be a good idea but like I was told, when being chased they aren't thinking about abything but how to get farther away. I don't know for sure but I think most of this was my RIR, who is at the bottom of the pecking order.
I've tried making refuge available to smaller chickens with entrances only large enough for them, and had very little success, unless I've put it in an out-of-the-way location. The smaller chickens have to slow down to fit through the small entrance, which gives the pursuers a chance to catch up to them. And when the small chickens feel the pressure of pursuit, they flap their wings in the chaos and can't fit through the entrance. I lost a chick in my experiments It was very sad. I'm very sorry some of yours have gotten hurt.
Thank you for your condolences. I now have a breeding pen or a pen for when I decide to start hatching and they get old enough next year to be outside. But I still feel bad. I was hoping that if I put a bunch of them in there they would be safe. I was wrong.
I always wait to add chicks to the older flock when they are almost the same size and can defend themselves....adults will and can starve out younger chickens by not letting them eat and drink...always make sure there are 2 or 3 feeders and waterers in the coop and run to make sure this does not happen...
It is okay now I made our old goat pen into a small coop and run for these girls and boys to enjoy withoug the burden of my older peck happy girls.