When will these girls calm the heck down?!?

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nancykjoe

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We have 5 hens (2 California Whites, 2 Heritage Barred Rocks & 1 Columbian Wyandotte) that are 1 year old. We recently adopted 2 hens (1 Buff Orpington & 1 Black Laced Wyandotte) that are 10 months old.

We did the look, but don’t touch deal for 10 days. Then we let them all free range together while we were in the yard. The original girls would chase the new ones a bit, but that was it. The new girls came with their coop, so they all go to their respective coops at night.

All seemed OK for a few days, until 3 original girls, who are lowest in their flock pecking order, started mounting 1 new girl, who is highest in her flock pecking order. They all gang up and mount her head as well as her back! I know they feel threatened by her, but she pretty much just crouches down & takes it. She does squawk a bit & runs when she gets a chance!

We’ve had the new girls for a month now & this keeps happening.

Any idea when the old girls might start calming the heck down?

I’ve read that moving them all into one coop at night could help. Anyone had success with this?

Any and all advice is welcomed and appreciated!
 
Last edited:
DobieLover said:
Hello, Nancy, and welcome to BYC! :frow Glad you joined.
Don't move them all into one coop. They'll do it themselves when they're ready. Full flock integration takes months.
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Thank you for the info! I’m glad to know that it can take that long. Maybe there is light at the end of the mean girl chicken tunnel!
 

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