Socializing New Ladies

[MissBokBok]

Hi All,
About a month ago I incorporated a 2-month and 3-month old Easter Eggers to my flock of 9 8-month-old girls. They were skittish but I've been giving them plenty of places to hide and food in a separate area so they don't get chased off.

It's been a month now and the two new girls rarely venture out in the run, still get chased off from the food, and roost in a separate area from the rest despite me moving them together again and again. They are so not in the cool crowd yet.

Recently I removed a bunch of chickens (3 were naughty and 2 are in sick bay) so there are 2 newcomers with 4 older chickens. Still scaredy cats.

Anything I can do to speed this process up? It's a pain to feed them separately and they're social so I think it's stressful to be so picked on.

I have plenty of space in my coop/run, and my birds generally aren't too mean, aside from running the new guys off of the food (not every time, though).

Thanks.

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi,

There are a lot of threads on integration, so rather than trying to spew the whole lot up here, id suggest that you search "integrating chickens into a flock" or some such search and you will find a multitude of threads and posts that will help you. Multiple feed stations will certainly ease the situation IMO.

All the best
CT

 

[MissBokBok]

Thanks. I was using the wrong search terms.

 

[Pork Pie]

You are most welcome.

CT