Trouble integrating new pullets

[Chickiemom25]

I am having a lot of trouble integrating 6 12 week brahma pullets into my flock of 11 (17 week) hens. The hens are being brutal. The brahma pullets are just slightly smaller than the rest of the flock but they are being chased/pecked constantly. I had the pullets in a smaller coop outside the large coop for 4 weeks so they could all see each other. The pullets are hovering in a corner of the coop scared to death and even slept outside rather than going into the coop for the night. I know that they need to establish a new pecking order but there's no getting along at this point. Any tips on how to make this easier? No blood has been shed 'yet' however if one of the six get separated from their group, I know that the hens will gang up quickly.

I just added 2 to 11 rather successfully. I put them in the coop after the others the first night. Next morning all the girls left the run but the 2 new ones who had been in a dog crate in the run for a week. One roo stayed with them. Night 2, 1 went in the coop on her own, the other roosted on the feed can under the coop, so I put her in the coop as well. The 2 tend to free range a little separate from the main flock. One of the roos is rather mean to the one girl who is alot fluffier but otherwise they seem to be doing well. The fluffy one is either beginning a molt or the roo is plucking her alot.

 

[hannahsflock]

Are all of your hens Brahmas? Or do you have a mixed flock? I've had bad experiences trying to integrate more dominant breeds (like Rhode Island Reds) into my flock of docile chickens (Brahmas, Orpingtons etc)

 

[Chickgirl5]

Are all of your hens Brahmas? Or do you have a mixed flock? I've had bad experiences trying to integrate more dominant breeds (like Rhode Island Reds) into my flock of docile chickens (Brahmas, Orpingtons etc)

Unfortunately, only the 6 younger are Brahmas. The 11 older are mixes (BR, RIR, and White Leghorns) which are all pretty aggressive breeds. I think that is a lot of the issue also. If worse comes to worse, I will just free range the Brahmas and not mix them with the others.

 

[lazy gardener]

Have you tried letting all of them (older AND younger) out to free range? Also, I did not see where you posted the size of your coop, as well as available perch space. This info is critical to solving your issue.

 

[Chickgirl5]

Have you tried letting all of them (older AND younger) out to free range? Also, I did not see where you posted the size of your coop, as well as available perch space. This info is critical to solving your issue.

I haven't tried to free range all of them. I'm nervous to do that since the older have never free ranged. My coop is 15ftx15ft and the run is 25ftx25ft. I do not have perch space in the run but do have logs, branches for hiding, pallets to hide under. The coop itself has 3 rows of perching bars at different levels.

 

[Chickgirl5]

I thought that I would give an update from my previous post. The brahma pullets are now about 14 weeks old and the transition seems to be going better. I added more hiding places in the run which they seem to be using to their advantage. There's definitely a lot of pecking going on but nothing too brutal. The Brahmas even went into the coop at bedtime last night and 3 were on the bottom roost (the other 3 huddled on the floor but still in the coop). Thanks for everyone's suggestions!