[Sopho]

I have a light sussex and a warren both of which have beautiful temprements and love to bepetted and stroked. However on sunday I collect two 12 week olds, a buff orpington and a maran, I was adviced to just put them intogether and see how it goes. I did and the poor litle things got pounced on. feathers were pecked and pulled and tey were really bullied to the point that they hid in the coop and wouldn't come out at all.... now it was a hot day and even though I put a water container in the coop everytime they little oes moved the older hens would run in and attack... I became very concerned that they would become dehydrated and possibly die so i blocked off their coop and kpt the older birds out.

All seems oK now... they are still seperated but they only have a mesh fence between them and they are more confident going nearer the older hens who have also calmed down alot.

Have I done the right thing and when should I move the fence?

[joyfull]

You have done exactly the right thing, keep them seperate but in full view so that they can get used to each other. When they do go back together you may still get the odd bit of bullying as the older hens will still try to assert the position (hence the saying pecking order), but it won't be long before they all know their order. 

[Sopho]

Thank you... it is good to know that I am doing it Ok...

Pheww!!

[Tazzy]

Whenever I've introduced new girls to the brood, I've put them in at night and just popped them straight onto a perch as they are all quieter then, just to let them settle in. If the pecking order has got out of hand I've taken out the worst aggressor for a couple of days, let the older ones out to roam as normal so as to let the newer ones get used to their surroundings. The older ones come back one at a time for a drink and nibble and do chase after the new ones, but at least they're not getting picked on by the whole gang. Within 10 days or so they've settled down. I brought 4 new ones in just under a month ago and they are now happy members of a big gang. Probably looking forward to having a go at any newcomers themselves