pekins bullying

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I have an 8, 10, 15 and 16 week old pekins but the older 2 are pecking the the younger 2. is this normal? how can i stop it? i only got them yesterday? shall i buy some stop pecking spray? Or keep them seperate?

Thanks Guys

Keith
 
It's not unusual for stock of different ages if they haven't lived together before. Spray is not likely to help.
It would be safer to seperate them and find a way of integrating them slowly but they are always likely to be at risk from the older ones. If they are to be let loose in the garden, that would be a good time to try them together under supervision.
 
When i brought them from the breeder the older 2 were in one big enclosure and the younger 2 in other enclosure with birds there own age. last night i put the 2 small hens in a box in the kitchen. Thanks for the advice. Keith
 
If I were you I would keep them in sight of each other if you possibly can. This is the mistake I made when one of mine was bullied, I removed her out of sight of the others. My situation was slightly different as she was actually injured and blood was drawn, but I should have kept her where the others could see her.
 
It is always best to buy them the same age and size. I made the mistake ages ago of buying two younger ones and trying to introduce them to my original girls and it didn't work. We had to seperate them until they grew to full size. As the others have said keep them within sight of eachother and with patience they will integrate, :)
 
Thanks guys, i have the 2 small ones in a box in the kitchen tonight with the older 2 in the house outside. Perhaps i'll build a small temp coop to put at the other end of my ark and put some mesh between them?
 
I would keep them seperate until older, the 16 week olds will be on layers pellets in a few weeks time, where as the younger pekins would still be on grower pellets. The older pekins would also bully them as they are alot smaller, this can stress the younger birds and cause health problems
 
Thanks, How old till i intergrate them? I'll build a small temp coop tomorrow and fence off half the ark run. i spefically asked the breeder would the 2 age groupd be ok!!! The 16 week old has a red comb now so should be laying soon.
 
Just a word of caution if you are building a temporary coop - make sure it's predator proof. This is easy to forget especially if you're thinking it won't be used again; worth building a decent one because the chances are you will need it again at some point !
At what age to integrate them ? There's no definate answer to that one. You will just have to try them at intervals in as large a space as poss. at first. Being in sight of the others may help but is not the complete answer. It's a tricky situation to deal with for those with little knowledge of chicken behaviour.
 
Update, i have built a predator proof box/coop which i have placed in the run attached to my ark. The younger pekins are in there and the 16week olds are in the main ark. i have put mesh between them so see how things go. hopefully wont take too long to intergrate them. Thanks for the advise.
 
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