Old checken

[Witch300]

How long dose it take for an older bird to get used to the new chicks I put them all In a new coop that is bigger now she has not made them bleed but she has pecked them and chased them a round

 

[nuthatched]

How did you introduce them? It's best to keep a fence between them for a few weeks

 

[Witch300]

I did that I just hope she will except them or I can move her back over to the old coop

 

[FrostRanger]

Depends on the hen, but she probably won't fully accept them until they start laying. She'll hopefully tolerate them much sooner, but that may just be they hang out in their separate groups and she pecks them if they get too close. Definitely do be careful and take it slow as hens can absolutely kill chicks if you aren't careful
.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Each situation is unique, you can never be totally sure what will happen. Sometimes you can be pleasantly surprised. It really helps to have a lot of room.

What I usually see is that the chicks get pecked if they invade the personal space of an adult so they very quickly learn to avoid an adult. They form a sub-flock, hanging out peacefully but keeping a good distance from the adults. This is during the day. At night the younger one do not sleep on the roost with the adults but find somewhere separate to sleep. This might be on the coop floor, outside the coop, in a nest, or some place up high but a long way from that hen. Wherever they feel safest.

My pullets continue to avoid the adults until they start to lay. Then they are accepted in the pecking order.