What to do about pecking order?

[EpiphanyChicks]

I am diversifying my flock a bit,
and am giving three of my year-old-chickens to a friend.
We have had some pecking issues late this Spring,
but the chickens seem to be over that, now.

Am I better off moving out the peck-ers, the peck-ees,
or does it matter? I assume the peck-ers are near
the top of the order.

I will be adding a few more chicks to the mix, once they
are about ten weeks old.

Any suggestions would be SO helpful. Thank-you, as always.
I have never "met" a more helpful group!

 

[redroosta]

well, chickens shouldn't peck each other much after they have established their order. I would just pick your least favorite 3 and send them off.

the chicks will have some issues integrating with the flock. first of all they will form their own group together. and they will be scared to eat near the other chickens so when you feed them, spread the feed out as much as possible so they can all get some. 2nd of all, if you have young roosters they will fight like mad, with the older ones as they try to become dominant. within a month or 2 though the fighting should subside between the hens. while the roosters will continue for a long while. Maybe 4 or 5 months. if the fights get serious do not hesitate to throw one of them into the stewpot.

keep in mind, im not talking about CONSTANT fighting but every once in a while one will get mad and peck and scratch the other.

 

[emvickrey]

I took my roos out before I introduced the new hens. They are about 3 months old now. They have been in the coop with the hens for about 2 weeks now and a couple of the hens, Wydonetes, are still pecing at them. Harrassing them more like it. If it wasn't for the fact that they're paying their rent I would get rid of them. I have 2 in a pen inside the coop trying to get them used to each other before I let them loose in there with the other 16 hens. Then I will put 3 more in the pen to repeat the process.