Two pullets excluded from the flock. Advice needed

[chickengeorgeto]

Hi,
I have a total of 8 hens. 6 were all purchased and raised at the same time, and two Easter eggers were introduced a couple of weeks later. The Easter eggers are about 1.5 weeks younger than the remaining flock. The are all the same size now, and about 15 weeks old. My 'problem' is the two Easter eggers are treated like outsiders in the flock. The leader does not mind them, but #5 & 6 continually harass them and shoo them away from the main flock. The are treated like Rudolph the red nosed reindeer. Never allowed to hang and forage within the main flock. Always kept at a few yards distance.
When locked in the coop, the two do not come down from the roost and feed with the others. They aren't allowed to partake in treats, etc.
While they aren't being physically harmed, the exclusion saddens me. Does anyone have thoughts on how to get them more tightly integrated into the main flock? I don't really have the means to separate #5&6, without keeping them in a small wire crate.

Let chickens be chickens.

The two Easter Eggers are treated like outsiders because in the eyes of your first 6 hens the Easter Eggers are outsiders.

About all that you can do to help this situation is to wring the necks of the first 6 pullets and even then there is no guarantee that you wan't have to cull one of the two remaining Easter Eggers before perfect peace settles over your coop.

Oh if you try hard enough you may hit on some barbaric kind of abuse that will demote the oldest 6 hens (like solitary confinement) and turn the tables on them but all you will have accomplished is to promote the two Easter Eggers over the first 6 hens. This is why I never advise people to keep different kinds and sizes of chickens until the chicken keeper understands what it means to be a chicken.

 

[fayoumisfeathers]

1) If a chicken with a low rank is treated perfectly and is pampered with treats, she will learn to not obey chicken social order.

2) Leave them be. Every flock has its lowest and highest ranking bird. Respect that.

3) No culling is needed. If your birds roost together, and do not harm each other, you have nothing to worry about. They might eventually accept the newcomers but who knows? We don't speak chicken.

4) I had a Rhode Island Red hen that was picked on by our Barred Rocks and our Easter Egger. She eventually accepted it, became more submissive, and now we have no chicken social order mishaps.

 

[igorsMistress]

I have one EE pullet who is at the bottom of the pecking order. She wasn't ever really picked on, but my Welsummer would chase her off food. Now I have two feeders and when I throw out snacks I spread them around so everyone gets some. Fixed the issue.
It seemed that as soon as she started laying some of the attitude disappeared too.

 

[aart]

While they aren't being physically harmed, the exclusion saddens me. Does anyone have thoughts on how to get them more tightly integrated into the main flock? I don't really have the means to separate #5&6, without keeping them in a small wire crate.

Yeah, I know....like the mean girls. But they don't mind as much as you do.
Let them be. Once they start laying, the pecking order will change and you may see this in who is hanging out with whom......or not.