New birds to the flock

[irocleis]

So these are my first chickens... I've had these barred rocks since chicks, and they are now almost 5 months old. 1 roo 3 hens. (I lost 2 other hens) so I decided to get a couple
More hens. I went with a silver Dorking and 2 Orpington maran cross hens. The new birds are only about 3-4 months it appears (only half the size of the rocks) now the problem is it appears that the rocks will not except them into their flock. The 3 newbies always stay together and when the rocks see them the new birds run or get chased. When will this end? They sleep in the same coop but there is usually a pre bedtime scuffle. And the younger birds are not aloud to sleep
Next to the rocks haha.

Thanks for the help!

 

[ladyarabella]

Wats ur set up like?

 

[irocleis]

Free range all day, the coops open from 6am til they go back in at night.

 

[irocleis]

The 3 new younger birds never really leave the coop area... The rocks go all over gods creation.

 

[ladyarabella]

I had to make more places to bed down to minimize the squabbles
I've added twice
And after months the newbies still sleep together
The ones I've added r older so I let them sort it out themselves mostly
But because ur newbies r a little younger it might b a little different

 

[ladyarabella]

How long hav u had the newbies

 

[ladyarabella]

We hav one shy chook who insists on roosting up high as she isn't accepted as of yet
We just try to make sure she dry and warm
And check for wounds as these can b made worse very quickly by other curious chooks

 

[irocleis]

Um.... About 2 weeks. I watched them roosting and the one newb always tries to get in with the bigger ones when they roost but gets immediately kicked out lol, it's almost comical watching, but I'm
Hoping they'll all free range together as they get bigger. It's not super aggressive, but the rock roo and hens def go after them if the smaller ones are near by and in eyesite

 

[aart]

Sounds fine.....they may stay segregated until the are all laying.
As long as there's no blood drawn or chasing down and pinning, that all sounds pretty normal.
But there will always be a pecking order, usually manifesting around food or roost place, that can change on an apparent whim.

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Hope it works!