We have all heard of the phrase “the pecking order”. Chickens establish a hierarchial order in their flock. This is thought to have evolved over many thousands of years in the jungle fowl of South East Asia. The pecking order allowed the flock to eat in turn and peacefully when food was available. If they were fighting at these times, they would be wasting their opportunity to eat and attracting attention to themselves from predators.
The pecking order is still well and truly with the hens of today and hens can be incredibly cruel to newcomers. If you are mixing hens that aren’t used to one another, you should make sure you are around to keep an eye open for trouble. The following points may help:
- Place newcomers behind a fence or in a small run for a week so that they can get used to their new surroundings and get used to one another.
- Introduce a new hen at night to the coop when it is dark. Place her amongst the other hens. They will not fight in the dark and it will give the others a chance to get used to the new smell.
- If pecking takes place, leave them to get on with it as much as you can. They have to establish the new pecking order but…
- If blood is drawn at any point, remove the hen and try again when the injury has healed. Chickens are attracted to red and will peck blood very quickly.
- You may want to try removing the hen that is fighting with the newcomer to the flock for a little while until the new hen has settled into the flock, then put the trouble maker back in.
If you are still having difficulty with the hens getting along, you can try an Anti-peck spray and if you have real problems, ‘bumpa bits‘ can be fitted to the beak for a while. These stop the end of the beak closing completely so prevent her from causing damage to other hens but she is still able to eat and drink normally.
I had two sussex hens. one became very broody, so I purchased some fertile eggs for her to sit on. They hatched a few days ago. I seppereated the other hen, moving mummy and her babies to a new coop with a run attached so that when they are big enough they can come out in saftey. The other hen seems to be lonely though, shal I get her a friend? And how best shal I reintroduce her to mumy and babies?
You really need to keep the mother and chicks separate from others until the chicks are old enough to fend for themselves. This should be 16 to 18 weeks at least. You could keep them close by so they still see one another?
Hi, I have just introduced 2 new 18 week) chickens to my existing 2 (26 weeks), who are bullying the newcomers terribly. They have a metal run with coop, set in a large netted area. I shut the door of the metal (foxproof) run but not the coop door as they sleep partway out of the doorway! I tried leaving the newbies inside the run and the others in the netting during the day, letting them mix in the larger area while I was with them, which seems to work and they all go into the Coop at night in order at 10pm but my originals are up by 4.30 and if the run door is shut they leap on the newbies together and they can’t get away. I found poop in the nest box this morning so they must have climbed in to get away from the oldies during the night. Any suggestions how I can stop things getting out of hand please?
Block off the nest boxes at night and place them where you want them to sleep at night but give them some distance from the bullies. They won’t be bullied at night. After a few weeks, they usually get used to one another’s smell and tolerate one another.
I had (3) 10 week old chicks and 2 were killed today. A friend of mine has (4) 12 week old chicks and would like to give me one. How should I introduce them and is it safe to put the new chick in the coop with my remaining chick?
They are very similar in age so providing they are well matched in size, they should be ok. Keep an eye out but I am sure there won’t be too many problems.
I have 4 hens all appx. 18 months old. I also have 2 P.O.L that I have been keeping seperate for over 3 weeks. I introduced them last night after bedtime, no problem, but this morning I was up at 5am because of the commotion ( I have an automatic pop hole opener) 1 of the newbies had come out but getting bullied the other refused to come out, and when she did with me being thier she was set upon, so much so I ended up having to rmove them both. Also the noise at that time of day with nieghbours and windows open,well !?! tonight I intend to try removing the main trouble maker and see what happens tomorrow. I can only assume I have to keep persevering and hope they start getting along soon. They are all appx. the same size, and all hybrids.
Yes, persevere – it can take a week or two for them to settle. Removing the bully is a good start, then add her back in when the others are settled and know their place.
Hello
I love your website, so informative. But can you help me? I have kept hens for a few years but have only recently added to the flock.
I had 4 hens but unfortunately I had to have my Bluebelle put to sleep because she had egg peritonitis. The 3 left are 2 x Columbian Blacktails and 1 x Amber. They all get along famously and appeared ‘caring’ towards Margo (Bluebelle) when she was not well.
I have added 2 x Ambers and 1 x Specklady. I kept them in a separate area for just over 2 weeks but with netting between old and new hens. After this time they were taking no notice of each other, so I put new into old after dark and although the next morning there were ‘pecks’ it was not to bad. The 2nd day they were altogether 1 of the Columbian Blacktails pinned Specklady down and pecked her badly, no blood though, husband intervened. The 3 new ones looked really miserable and were by the end of the morning just looking for cover!!!
I have gone from 3 ‘loving hens’ to what appears a small ‘3rd world war’.
What is the best thing to do? Keep them separate and take more time or just let them loose? They have a huge area to roam around and a large run, so it is most certainly not lack of space. I would like harmony in the flock but it is very much a them and us situation.
Thank you very much.
Kind Regards
Janet
They can take weeks to settle into the pecking order and sometimes there are hens that will never get on that well. You are best to remove the bully for a while, let the others settle and then re-introduce the bully. Keep the bully in a separate temporary run next to the others if you can and put feeders up against the wire so they regularly meet one another on the other side of the wire.
Good luck.