How to make chickens get along??

[Merc_smallFarms]

Hello, I read some posts on getting chickens to get along but most seem to say it’s just pecking order or to rehome the chicken. I’m looking for any advice, so, say what you feel but I really hope to find a way to keep my chickens while also keeping them alive.

I have six chickens, one rooster who’s kept separate. Four of those chickens I got a month ago together and when I introduced them there was some conflict with the other chickens, nothing really intense but I’m worried that some of that rudeness rubbed off on the new chickens. One of the new chickens (Margret) has started showing some slightly aggressive signs like harshly pecking people, which happened twice.

I brought two new chickens plus a mini rooster. As soon as I let the mini rooster out Margret quickly jumped on him and started pecking him. We put the new chickens and rooster in a cage inside the coop so everyone could get use to them but Margret immediately began poking her head in the cage and pecking them. I honestly question if Margret is actually a rooster I don’t know her age but her and the other three haven’t laid yet and I don’t think she entirely looks like a rooster (I’ll include a picture tomorrow) but I can’t tell if this aggressive behavior could be because she is or something else. She was so sweet before and I feel like the chickens she came with might be picking up this behavior. I also fear the two new chickens I got might also pick up this behavior since they are being treated that way.
Can I teach them to treat each other well or do I just separate all of them?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

How old is Margaret and can you post both a full-body picture of her from the side, showing her legs and feet, and also a good head shot showing her comb and wattles, please? Thank you.

 

[Merc_smallFarms]

How old is Margaret and can you post both a full-body picture of her from the side, showing her legs and feet, and also a good head shot showing her comb and wattles, please? Thank you.

Thank you so much for replying I don’t know Margaret’s exact age but I believe her to be around 12 weeks. I tried my best with photos if you need more then let me know, I also included photos of my other chicken since she looks similar to Margaret. So far to keep the peace with my chickens I’ve begun free ranging them and then leaving my new ones in the coop. At night I separate them in cages.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

How did you introduce the new chickens to the existing flock? Are you familiar with what we call the "see-no-touch" method? I'll attach a link to an article I wrote describing it. Also, do you quarantine new birds for a month before adding them to your flock to be sure they're healthy and not exposing your birds to lice, mites or illness? It's highly recommended.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/integrating-a-pictorial-guide.79343/

 

[aart]

I don’t know Margaret’s exact age but I believe her to be around 12 weeks.

Both those birds are cockerels.
The deep red of combs and wattles, plus I think I see pointed hackle feathers.

 

[Apis mellifera]

Both those birds are cockerels.

Beat me to it! Yeah, Margaret is a Manny.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Both those birds are cockerels.
The deep red of combs and wattles, plus I think I see pointed hackle feathers.

 

[FrostRanger]

I Agree, Margret is a cockerel. You're going to need to remove at least one boy from the flock as they are most likely going to keep fighting and aside from that, 4 females may not be enough for even one male (it can work depending on the roo's temperament but it really isn't ideal) as having too few females for a roo can increase the risk of the hens being overbred. Since he's already showing signs of human aggression I'd get rid of Margret and see how the other roo does
Also agree that quaranting new birds as far from your flock as possible for a month is very important

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hello, I read some posts on getting chickens to get along but most seem to say it’s just pecking order or to rehome the chicken. I’m looking for any advice, so, say what you feel but I really hope to find a way to keep my chickens while also keeping them alive.

The age of all of the chickens is important, not just one chicken. More mature chickens tend to dominate less mature chickens. That means they can and often physically attack them. This problem tends to go away once all of them are mature.

Another problem is that they often do not accept a stranger chicken as part of their flock. They need to be integrated. There are different ways you can go about that. BigBlueHen has one way.

Then you have at least two boys. They are going to determine which is the dominant flock master. This can get more serious as they mature. Sometimes this is a fight to the death, sometimes it isn't that big of a deal. A lot depends on the personality of the individuals. What often happens is that they fight and one determines he is better off running away. If he has room to run away and stay away they often work it out where they coexist within the flock. But if he doesn't have enough room to run away it is much more likely to be a fight to the death. I'm not talking about the 4 square feet in the coop and 10 square feet in the run you often read about on here. I'm talking about a physical straight line distance where he can get far away.

Can I teach them to treat each other well or do I just separate all of them?

This depends on the ages and personalities of the individual chickens. How much room they have is hugely important for integration of the girls, let alone the two boys. It is not about teaching them but giving them a chance to work it out on their terms. We do that all of the time. It generally involves housing them side by side across wire fences so they can get used to each other for a while, giving them as much room as we can, having separate feeding and watering stations far enough apart, and maybe having clutter in the run so they can get out of sight of each other. Sometimes this is fairly easy, sometimes it is rough. The more you can tell us about your facilities and flock the more likely we can make specific helpful suggestions.

 

[Daisy June]

How old is Margaret and can you post both a full-body picture of her from the side, showing her legs and feet, and also a good head shot showing her comb and wattles, please? Thank you.

I feel pretty sure where BigBlueHen53 is going: Is Margaret a Mark?