Trouble integrating

[BoerneChickens]

I have 4 hens that are 20 weeks that are all standard size (1 SCM and 3 EEs) and I have two 10 week old bantams (1 BPR and 1 Silkie). I have had the little girls in a dog kennel with wire sides in the hen house and down inthe run and out on the grass with the big girls for about 3 weeks. This last weekend I built a small little house for the little girls and put it in one half of the run with a temporary fence separating the two parts so the little girls would have more space and still be safe from the big girls. Well - the first night the little Plymouth Rock squeezed under the temporary fence and went up into the hen house with the big girls, the silkie had not figured out how to get up there so she was all alone crying down below. Everyone in the hen house seemed calm and sleepy so I moved her "upstairs" too. I checked about four times during the night and all was calm. When I went out early in the morning, everyone was down in the run and the little ones had gone back over onto their side where I had opened it up to get the silkie out in the middle of the night. Everyone seemed fine and no issues. I let the big girls out to free range and the little girls could come out too but they mostly stayed in the run with a few short trips out to the edge of the grass. No fights - everyone seemed fine so I thought maybe I was in the clear, but I put some pieces of wood leaned up in different places to give places for the little ones to hide just in case.

Well, it started raining (downpour plus lightning) so everyone had to go back into the coop. The big girls hate when they can't be out in the yard and I guess they get bored in the coop and they went on the attack chasing the little girls around and cornering them and pecking them and ganging up on them. My son ran in to save the babies and we got everyone separated again and the temporary fence in place again. I had to take my kids to a friends house and when I got back all hell had broken loose again and the big girls had pulled down the temp fence and were after the little ones again. Neither of the little girls were bleeding or seemed injured - just scared as heck.

I was afraid the big girls will really hurt them or kill them even so I put the little girls back into the kennel to keep them safe.

So after that long story - my question is - will it get better? Will the bantams ever be safe or will they get the tar beaten out of hem because they are smaller? It made me so sad and I am so scared they will get really hurt. Do they need to be full sized before I try to integrate them again? The silkie got the worst of it because with her feathery feet and fluff she isn't fast and I'm not sure she sees very well so she couldn't get away really at all. The BPR at least was able to escape into hidey holes but then she couldn't get out again or they would go after her.

ALso - the SCM is very docile and I haven't seen her go after them once - she even let them eat right next to her during he day - but he EEs are just like wolves hunting them down

Help!

 

[Mother of All]

need to be separated but still be able to see the others for at least a few weeks. when they get to b e about the same size then and only then can you try it again

 

[henney penny]

I have silkie baby that I hatched out int he incubater,she was the only one so she has been in an aquirium with a heat lamp feather duster mama and a mirror.Have tried to intergrate her (she is three weeks old) Ihad a mama silkie that hatched out 5 babies two weeks ago and tried to put her under the mama a few times and she runs to the other end of the pen and sreams untill we take her out.The mama would have taken her with no problem,but she will have nothing to due with her or her chicks.We take her outside when the other sllkies are out free ranging but whe will not go anywhre near them and if they get close to her she runs behind us and hides.Will we ever be able to put her with her own kind?She thinks we are her parents.Dh holds her a lot when he is home.Has anyone had to deal with this if so what did you do?As you can see form this picture she follows dh around like she would her real mama.She won`t let us get very far from her.