SOS Problem combining old & new hens

[AnniM]

A week ago we rescued 3 pullets all a year old from a neighbor's 2 aggressive hens. Now our 2 older (8y/o) hens are chasing them away, dont allow them to eat together, dig around in compost or get onto the roost without being attacked. I have been trying to assist with their transition. How much should I intervene? Any ideas other than separating them? I've been raising chickens for 20+years and never seen such problems. The oldest hen is actually displaying "rooster type" behaviors! Even tries to crow which is actually funny.​ ​

 

[cluckmecoop7]

You need to make sure they have multiple food and water stations, enough room to run away from the bullies, and lots of places to hide. They should eventually figure it out if you are providing the right setup. Can we see a picture of the coop?

 

[Mrs. K]

The younger ones definitely have that victim mentality. I would add multiple feed bowl, section off part of the roost with a piece of cardboard between the old ones and new ones.

And I would try pin-less peepers. These ugly behaviors can be hard to stop, and you need to intervene.

 

[AnniM]

They have plenty of food and room to roam/hide when outside. They sleep on a roost in the barn that is locked at night. I just put an extension on the current roost so I'll see if that helps. My concern was how much I should intervene since we rescued them from a caged setting with alot of feather picking.
Thanks

 

[3KillerBs]

Did you go through a see-don't-touch integration process or just dump them into the coop?

Without proper integration it's normal for chickens to see newcomers as unwelcome intruders who need to be drive off for the safety of the flock.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/introducing-new-chickens-using-the-“see-but-don’t-touch”-method.67839/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/adding-to-your-flock.47756/

 

[AnniM]

"Dump them into the coop?"

 

[AnniM]

The younger ones definitely have that victim mentality. I would add multiple feed bowl, section off part of the roost with a piece of cardboard between the old ones and new ones.

And I would try pin-less peepers. These ugly behaviors can be hard to stop, and you need to intervene.

They have food & water stations all over the yard. At night I am using a barrier on the roost but find I still need to place the dominate hen in her "space" after the new girls climb up the ladder. Please define "pin-less peepers"?
Thanks

 

[3KillerBs]

"Dump them into the coop?"

Just put them in without doing a see-don't-touch period of several days to a couple weeks in an integration pen where they could see each other across the wire but not fight.