[symonep]

 
We had 3 hens (2 we brought and the other was hatched by one of the hens as she went broody so we got her a fertile egg) and have had them for 2 (and one) years now.

I got 3 new 15 week old hens on Thursday and anyone who has introduced new hens to an existing pack will know what is coming next!
On the first day i put the new girls in the coop and one of the existing hens made her feelings known on her new house guests and sqwarked for about 10 hours straight. They all slept in the same coop with the existing hens but she squarked most of the evening and started again at 5 the next morning, she seems to have calmed down a little and only has a few squawking sessions (as i type it is getting dark and i can hear her rosey loudly in annoyance at them being in her coop)
Today they seem to be chasing the new girls more and pulling a few feather out of them which i know is normal. My question is how long does it normally take before they stop squarking at them or dare i say it accept them?
We have a new coop that went up at the same time so it wasnt 'their' house the new girls were taking over but it appears this had made no difference.
Now if i didnt have a neighbour i wouldnt care about the noise but the sqwarking at 5am is driving me nuts, the coop had an automatic door opener so i have tried keeping them inside for longer and letting them out earlier but it makes no difference.
Any advise on how to get them to get along or is it just a matter of time?

[joyfull]

it can take several weeks I'm afraid before the pecking order gets sorted. Just make sure they have several feeders and drinkers available so that they can all feed and drink. It is also best if they can have hiding places such as some branches to hide behind 

[symonep]

Thanks for your reply joyful, they have food and water in the coop and there are som branches and nooks and crannies for them to hide in, every day they seem a little more tolerant and this morning there was only a fuss and some chasing when they wanted to go into the coop to lay but they kicked all the little ones out and happily laid their eggs.

Thanks again 

[symonep]

Ohhh dare i say it.........we have peace and quite again! No more 5.30am squarking and complaining. The only time there is noise is when they want to go in to lay and kick the young hens out of the coop.
They are still sorting out the pecking order and there is much chasing going on but day by day the young hens are becoming more confident.
Happy days