HELP! Been integrating for 4 weeks and no progress in older hen behavior

[Ben_ep1]

Hi! I posted a thread a few weeks ago now about trying to integrate our 4 chicks with our 3 year old hens. The advice was great, and we implemented safety zones and lots of food and water. Though, even with some progress on the big girls getting used to the now 10 week old pullets, the pullets are still very scared of the big girls. And now, the big girls are even more aggressive, seeking out for harsh pecking every time we try to integrate. There have been only a few times when the hens have done a warning peck, and most of the time they’ll charge at the little ones to move them away from food. But, about 25% of the time when the peck, it’s very aggressive, pulling lots of feathers out and chasing. We’ve tried so hard and we even put them in a mirrored henhouse (shown below) with a hardware cloth door so the big girls can look in their henhouse but not be able to get inside. The only thing we haven’t (and can’t do because of space) is sleep the littles with the big girls overnight.

We think we may just have them be separate flocks in different sections of the garden. Please, any advice would be appreciated!

 

[thistlewick]

They need to sleep together at night, this is how they understand they are in the same flock together.

You just have to try it out one night and see how it goes.


If you have hens trying to kill the pullets, those are NASTY, violent hens that you need to take a look at if you want to keep them or not, imo.

Sweet hens will chide with peck, they won't try and kill or maim or pull feathers.

But they gotta sleep together. Put the pullets in on the roosts LATE at night, after the big girls are asleep and in the dark. Don't shine lights in there and wake anyone up.

Let your eyes adjust to the night's darkness for several minutes, you will be alright!

 

[Ben_ep1]

They need to sleep together at night, this is how they understand they are in the same flock together.

You just have to try it out one night and see how it goes.


If you have hens trying to kill the pullets, those are NASTY, violent hens that you need to take a look at if you want to keep them or not, imo.

Sweet hens will chide with peck, they won't try and kill or maim or pull feathers.

But they gotta sleep together. Put the pullets in on the roosts LATE at night, after the big girls are asleep and in the dark. Don't shine lights in there and wake anyone up.

Let your eyes adjust to the night's darkness for several minutes, you will be alright!

Thank you so much for the advice!
My wife and I are so worried on what would happen to them during the night. Whenever we go down there, the henhouses are so small (only big enough for maybe 4 full sized chickens) and that we tend to always wake up the big girls. I would be predict that the little girls would freak out and then more bad pecks would happen in such a small space. The space they have is shown below from the coop seller's site. Probably only less than 6 sq ft. Each of the big girls like to sleep in a different section, with one of them sleeping where they usually lay eggs (bottom right of picture). Do you think this would work?

 

[Ajp23]

Agree that sleeping together is necessary. It’s hard when you’re worried about them, I know, but I feel like it offers some cohesion. In many cases, this won’t fully resolve until the younger pullets start laying. I hope it goes well for you and your flock!

 

[Gezellige_Poes]

Try pinless peepers on the offenders. You will see immediate results, as chickens need to be able to see in front of them to be enticed to peck. Additionally, the victims will realize immediate relief and gain much needed confidence. I believe that the presentation of weakness from the victims rather urges the older hens to do it even more, typical bully behavior. Some hens tolerate the peepers right away, others resist, but they all get used to them. I had one hen walk backwards, not knowing what to do. I monitored this closely to make sure all the peeper wearers adjusted well. I have used them for chickens and for Coturnix quail and without fail, the peepers settled things down, and I mean, immediately! You can try removing the peepers after a week, that was usually enough time for me. If not, back on the peepers go! Good luck!

 

[Gezellige_Poes]

They need to sleep together at night, this is how they understand they are in the same flock together.

You just have to try it out one night and see how it goes.


If you have hens trying to kill the pullets, those are NASTY, violent hens that you need to take a look at if you want to keep them or not, imo.

Sweet hens will chide with peck, they won't try and kill or maim or pull feathers.

But they gotta sleep together. Put the pullets in on the roosts LATE at night, after the big girls are asleep and in the dark. Don't shine lights in there and wake anyone up.

Let your eyes adjust to the night's darkness for several minutes, you will be alright!

If you do this, be there at first light, to monitor behavior! Again, try peepers!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Wait. Your coop is only 6 sq ft? And you have 3 adult hens in there and you are trying to add 4 chicks? Yeah, this is not going to work. We typically advise 4 sq ft PER HEN in a coop. Your coop is big enough for one and a half hens. You just need a bigger coop. A lot bigger.

 

[Down Under]

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Nice vid, thanks for sharing!

 

[rosemarythyme]

I would not even consider having them coop together without relative harmony in the run first. Also the coops shown are way too small to expect 4 chicks to safely sleep with multiple adults.

Couple of questions. In the first photo, is the area between the 2 coops the run? How big is the run? Any other photos of it so we can get a better idea of what's in there? Do they get to come out to the area in front or are they strictly in the run?

Also from your description I wonder if you've intervened too much. When you saw the feather pulling and chasing, what did you do? Did you leave them together or did you immediately separate them?