[twizzel]

Wonder if anyone can help me. I bought 20 ex free range layers from a farmer friend about 5 weeks ago. They are doing ok... stopped laying (which is fine and to be expected) and seem fairly settled in. However the 15 hens that have been here before are being quite mean to them.

I introduced them really gradually- first in a separate house and small run, then in separate house and fenced off part of the quite large chicken pen so the new and old hens could see eachother but couldn't run together, then about 10 days ago I let them all in together. The old hens are obviously the bosses (even considering they themselves arrived 1 year ago from the same farm!) and are really quite mean to the new ones. All in the same house at night now.
Will it settle down eventually? The new girls are moulting but are really quite scrawny at the moment, but I guess that will come. I'm just worried about the bullying and pecking order considering how slowly and gradually I introduced them to eachother   

[chrismahon]

There are two fundamental problems with this introduction Twizzel. Firstly introducing younger hens that are moulting. They are weak and unable to defend themselves properly. Secondly the introduction was made into an existing enclosure, one that the older hens have always had range of. They see the newcomers as depriving them of territory regardless of overall size and will vigorously defend it. Severe bullying will follow (as you can see) and some will not be able to feed or drink properly and won't feather up with possible fatalities.


I would have divided the enclosure in half and put the old birds in the newbies place. Then left the youngsters in the main coop to feather up properly and establish their own pecking order. Then removed the divider a month or so later at which time all will think they have more space.


In a flock the pecking order will change dramatically during the moult as the relative strengths of the birds will change. We've had it here and had to pull out some of the higher ranking that have been bullied and injured trying to maintain their rank.


You were right to introduce them slowly as you did, but it's that large number of hens and in their relative condition and age that has caused the problems.

[ScribbleUk]

In addition to the good advice above.  If you have the facilities, then merging the flocks into neutral territory of a third coop where there are no established territorial matters can help.  Also merging the flocks at night when they are both calmer can help. 

[Marches Farmer]

I agree.  It can also help to give them other things to think about (and to peck), like bunches of greenstuff tied at pecking height.  Putting a couple of fairly large, solid objects in the run, like an old straw bale or two, can give the shy ones somewhere to escape behind.

[twizzel]

Damn I thought I did the right thing introducing them like that. They have a huge area to roam about in the day which we have just made bigger- their permanent pen was just too wet and muddy so they have another temporary new pen in the garden to wonder about in too. I space their food out really far apart so everyone can eat and watch them carefully, they are all eating and drinking. There's 4 or 5 water troughs to drink from dotted around the place too. I've put veg hanging around and they have fresh fruit and veg every day, and have plenty of places to hide as there's 4 or 5 other unused houses in the pen.
I'll carry on keeping a close eye on them and if we have any more next year will introduce in the way you suggest

[twizzel]

I'm going to separate them at night as this is when the bullying is occuring- during the day they have plenty of space and food to get out of eachothers way.
Shall I take the old hens out of the main house and keep the new girls in? Or put the new hens back in the house that they stayed in when they first arrived?

[Clansman]

I wouldn't separate them unless its permanently.

They're just settling into their pecking order, as long as they have enough space to escape the more dominant birds and avoid serious damage it will eventually calm down.

If you keep separating and reintroducing them it all just starts from scratch again.

[lord flynn]

if they are still moulting and with pin feathers coming through, I would separate 24/7 not just at night. if the other hens go for the protein casing on the new feathers, well they can bleed like heck and can damage new feather growth. I would separate until both sets are hale and hearty and reintroduce as advised further up. These new birds are moulting, have moved and are having to cope with a new environment immunologically so to make it easier on them thats what I would do 

[Stereo]

What we do is put them close but not together. In two flocks divided by a fence. That way they get familiar with each other but can't have a go. It's worked very well for us. As Chris says, putting a moulting bird into a new flock is not a good idea as they are wretches at this time.

Personally, if I had the housing and flexibility, I would split the run in 2 and keep them seperate until the newbies are all feathered up. By then all the hens will know each other through the fence and there will just be a few superiority issues to sort out face to face rather than out-right bullying.

[twizzel]

I have opened up another house- so those that don't want to be in the main house don't have to- last night there were 10 or so in the other house which seems to have helped. Whilst they are in a large area I can't fence it off for a prolonged period of time- the main house is surrounded by mud thanks to this bad weather so one set of hens would be in 2 inches of mud, the other set would be dry. So they've got to have the whole area plus the temporary fenced part of the garden open to all, just no other way to do it due to where the 2 houses are located in the pen. As I said the day time is fine- I've watched them recently both at feed times and other quieter times and everyone minds their own business and keeps out of eachothers way... it's just at night so hopefully this extra house being open will work.

[Marches Farmer]

Usually they don't see each other well enough for much bullying to go on once they've gone in to roost. Do you have any additional light in the coop?  Is there enough roost space for all of them?  I think the estimates on how many birds a coop will house are oftten wildly over-estimated.  I have a group of 10 POL that spread out over 15 feet of roost space at night, for instance, even though they've been together since hatching and there's no bullying.

[twizzel]

Yes there's 2 windows that let light and ventilation in (obviously with fox proof mesh to stop anything getting in through them). I haven't been able to let them out at first light recently as I would normally do- I have been starting work at 7.30 and it's still a bit dark so that may have something to do with it... I might have to take a risk and let them out at half 7 and see if that helps the situation.
If I go into the house at night most of them are bunched up roosting either in the nest boxes or on the rails keeping warm, they like to bunch up together.
Hopefully things will settle with the addition of the other house and letting them out at 7.30 before I start work on the yard.