Introducing new chickens into flock! help needed!!?

[Paul G]

Up to now i have had 3 hens(adults) and all are doing great! a couple of days ago i bought two ten week old chicks and a 6 week old duck whom are getting on brilliantly! But when i brought these home problems began! I put the 3 new birds into the coop during the night to cause as little hassle , this went all fine and there was no hassle in the coop!! the next morning when i let them out everything seemed fine! but after a while one of the older birds started attacking the young chickens (not the duck) for the last 4 days she has be attacking and harassing the young birds! i took the bird causing hassle on many times now but he still is attacking the young birds and not letting them eat,drink or rest!! the 2 older birds seem to have no problem wit the new birds!! I have very limited space and must house them together and in the same run!! i am very worried for the the young birds and don't know what to do!! I need HELP badly!!

 

[dee k]

Getting older birds to accept new comers is always a challenge.No way of knowing which bird is likely to be aggressive & intolerant & which could not care less.Your new chicks are too young to fend off attacks or work out protective strategies.If lack of space is an issue,try cordoning off a small area for the new chis ks,they can be seen around but yet safe from bullying.They will do better when they are older & by then they will not be newcomers any more.
Whole process is labour intensive & calls for a lot of patience.

 

[Rebekah Carlsen]

The pecking order is hard to break, i would seperate the new ones from the rest of them till they get a little bigger and can defend themself, and maybe think about taking the older aggressive bird out for a while to break up the pecking order.

 

[ShellyCee]

you cant introduce new chickens into a old group. They do this thing called "pecking" they peck the unwelcome members to death. give your new chicken to a friend.