wynadotte is being a bully

[sueandthe6]

I have two 5 week old marans.. I .think copper- adopted from shelter 2 weeks ago and don't really remember. Anyway- although I don't know if either one is a hen I am concerned about integrating them if I get to that point. I have them inside right now as it gets down in the 40s at night. Today was nice so I put them in a small dog crate with no bottom and put them outside while my girls were free ranging. They all came over to inspect and eat right there by the babies which is fine. However, the wynadotte was actually trying to peck at them through the bars and if they got close to the sides or stuck their heads out she went for them. I have a cochin that is the bottom of the pecking order and a little black mutt that seems fairly disinterested. I know I need to put them with the babies when I put them out so they can form a "flock" to reintegrate with the rest of the big girls (maybe the leghorns too) but I am concerned it will all be for nothing cause the wyn will still be the top chicken bully wont she no matter who I take out? As I said- I am pretty sure one of these babies is a roo- it comes at me almost every time I open the kennel they are in now inside and will actually bite me. I went through hell with a nasty roo when I got my girls in the spring and I have no patience for BS. I know someone who mentioned possibly being interested if it is a roo and he will most likely go if he is. However, if not and I get lucky and have two pullets or even one-how do I take the wyn down a few pegs or will removing two or three from her "flock" do the trick?

 

[cafarmgirl]

The best thing to do is not attempt to ingegrate your new, young birds until they are more like 10 - 12 weeks old. They need to be about the same size as the older birds. In the meantime let them spend the daytime in a pen right alongside the older girls. Doing this for a few weeks helps a lot, gives everybody time to get used to the new birds being around and to settle down. When the young birds are old/big enough you can start letting them out to free range with the older birds. At that point you have to just watch them carefully. There are still going to be pecking order scuffles but hopefully by that time it will be mostly minor stuff. If your Wyandotte is still bent on being overly aggressive the SHE is the one you need to pull out and keep in a time out for a while. See if everybody else gets along ok, then try putting her back in and see if there's any improvement.