we have had three chickens for about 2 weeks and yesterday bought one more. the other three girls have been nothing but nasty to it! pecking constantly and not sharing food. Will this get better or have we made a mistake!? im hoping its just going to last a few days until the pecking order has returned but they are ina coop over night and im worried im going to find her dead in a few day, pecked to death! xx:help:

just keep an eye on it its allways best to buy in a pair it might be just pecking order

try putting out more than one food hopper - then the 'top' hen/s will not be able to guard all the food at once. \th est thing your new hen can do is be submissive and allow itsef to end up bottom of the pecking order - if it tries to retaliate then it will get into all sorts of trouble. Things should start to settle down (although sometimes new introductions do not work) - just watch for any injury that causes bleeding as tis will make your exsisting three attack the new one even more - chickens are partial to a bit of blood unfortunatley! I have hens myself and am in the process of introducing some.

Good luck - keep us informed of how its going

things seem to have calmed down a bit more now, they still give it the occasional peck but we have put down two or three lots of food so they all get fed and arent arguing over that!