Video of integration: bullying or normal behavior?

[McChooky]

Is 4’ really that narrow? It’s 4 hens and 2 bantams. Honestly asking…

My first run was 4 ft wide but the extension is 8 ft wide and gives them more room.Its where it bottlenecks down to 4 ft that my hens can easily reach them to peck them. Some as aggressively as the hen in this video.

 

[ljkraemer]

They need to be separated from the big bullies or they might get drowned in the water dish next time they try to escape the beating.

Silky-mixes don't look like normal chickens your hens would recognize as being of their own kind.
Sadly, Silkies, Polish etc. often get seriously injured and even pecked to death by standard chickens, as they will not accept them as flock members because of their strange looks.

If you want to keep them safe, get them their own coop and run.

ETA: Crested birds like Silkies or their mixes can be seriously injured when pecked hard on their head because of their often vaulted skull.

I considered this prior to getting them, but they were previously in a flock of 17, also backyard chickens. 13 regular hens and 4 bantams. This made me think they would be just fine with 4 of my hens.

 

[McChooky]

Is 4’ really that narrow? It’s 4 hens and 2 bantams. Honestly asking…

My hens won't let my 18 week old pullets pass them anywhere without grabbing them by the neck and pecking them.My pullets have been in a divided run look but don't touch for 3 months.

 

[ljkraemer]

What's the total square footage? Did it appear that the little one had much space to get away?

72’ of run plus 16’ of coop. Not really.

 

[LaFleche]

I considered this prior to getting them, but they were previously in a flock of 17, also backyard chickens. 13 regular hens and 4 bantams. This made me think they would be just fine with 4 of my hens.

When growing up together the standard chickens will be used to the different looks and behaviours of their Silkie flock mates and leave them alone.

But your hens did not grow up with them and act accordingly.

 

[Brooks_]

72’ of run plus 16’ of coop. Not really.

You could try some more clutter, just 4 feet wide doesn't give much space for avoidance.

 

[McChooky]

I considered this prior to getting them, but they were previously in a flock of 17, also backyard chickens. 13 regular hens and 4 bantams. This made me think they would be just fine with 4 of my hens.

Some people can manage to raise them together but some can't. You can sometimes teach them to get along better by feeding them together.

 

[McChooky]

Hi all,
I have 4 2-yo hens. I just got 2 3-month old bantam hens (Cochin/silkie mix, pure white, one with red face, one with black face). We keep them separated during the day. At night, the little girls sleep in the coop with the big girls, and all is fine. I had been waking up at 615am each morning to separate the new girls from the old (keep 2 in the extended run/the others in the coop/run or vice versa). Well, I decided to see how it would go if I just let them be in the morning until 8am. The last two mornings, I’ve watched on the video playback, there is a LOT of chasing, pecking, pulling feathers, chasing the new girls into corners, etc. I’m sharing a video clip below to show what it looks like. This is my first time integrating new birds and I don’t know if what I’m seeing is normal. I should note two things: one, I know their water is filthy as it’s from the day before and will get changed as soon as I go out there in the am, and two, the red faced bird seems to be getting the brunt of the abuse.

Our older girls free range in our fenced in backyard around 3-4 hours a day. The coop is 4x4, covered run is 4x8 and extended run is 4x10.

Any advice is welcome! I know there’s normal pecking order determining that needs to happen, but I kind of thought, once the hens establish who’s in charge, they’d be done with it…

Edited to add: there are 3 feed stations, 2 water stations, a low board that only the little girls can fit under, 4 roosting bars in the runs. We’ve had them for 5 days and have kept them separated all the time except for nights and these last two mornings, for 2 hours in the morning (from wake up til about 8am).

Video link here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jiMikxh5TBigTI83qF0a3p8luSUh1c0h/view?usp=drivesdk

Your babies are beautiful!

 

[saysfaa]

So, if I’m reading your response correctly, in the video I posted, the hen was in a bullying mode. The pulley had shown submission but the hen kept going. There’s no blood but should I still intervene when I see it “go this far”? The poor pulley stayed in that ending position for 6 minutes.

I don't consider it bullying. The hen did not see the submission. She (the hen) told the pullet that the pullet was too close and the pullet did nothing to move away. To the hen, that was blatant defiance.

The hen cannot factor in that the pullet could not move further away.

Is 4’ really that narrow? It’s 4 hens and 2 bantams. Honestly asking…

Yes. Then the feeders and waterers make it even narrower. It is narrow enough that one hen can easily physically block the entire width. Almost without moving. Then the feeders and waterers make it even narrower.

Then they need a psychological buffer too - like people's proxemics. Like us, chicken's space needs can vary a lot with how well they know each other or how well they like each other or whether they are stresses, and so on.

For perspective, I took my hen Spice to a new home and did quite a lot of watching how she handled being in a new flock. She never got within about 10 feet of any other chicken in the first several days (at least) - that was about the max distance she could get from them in the barn they were in. Part of that was because she didn't tolerate confinement very well. With 8x10 for five hens, it was very consistently the other four puttering around near each other and Spice either off by herself or Spice posturing to, chasing, or - if they were roosting or in the nest - pushing one of the others. On the other hand, her new flock had about 30 birds and was very used to new chickens being added; I think both make the transition easier.

 

[ljkraemer]

Everyone is being very helpful, thank you so much! I’ll post my big question here again, just in case it got lost on the first page reply.

will take things more slowly as these are the sweetest birds and I don’t want my rush to integrate them, ruin them. Since I posted this morning, I’ve changed the extended run. I added a partition that has metal bars with about 1” space (from an old rabbit hutch). The partition goes from top to bottom, so the hens are fully separated. We’ll be intentional about sprinkling food, scratch grains and treats (mealworms) along this barrier to get the hens to eat near each other. We’ll still let them free range for short times to mingle together, and lengthen this time as time goes on. My big question that I still don’t know how to handle nights. Do I still keep the habit of putting the pullets in at night after dark, and getting up at sunrise to separate them soon after wake up? Or for now, can they sleep in their extended pen? It’s predator proof, but not dark and cozy.

Also, if and when I do see aggressive behavior, is there anything I can do?