Extreme pecking order: Killing!

I have 6 - 5 month old Marans I hatched out last Fall.
1 cockerel and 5 pullets.
I just bought 2 - 14 week old Marans pullets and put them in with the 5 month old group. The next day one was dead! I didn't notice any aggression the first day...just the usual, casual chasing the newbies around
but the poor thing was dead and the other one cowering in the corner when I discovered the situation. The victim only had pecking on its lower back by the base of its tail I assume from taking the usual defensive stance of head in corner to protect itself. To be honest the wound didn't look mortal but never the less the bird was dead, maybe from shock. I removed the other new pullet from the pen as I did observe their behavior for awhile and they were relentlessly chasing her around.
At least one of the 5 month olders was.
Now I'm wondering about integrating the 5 month old group into my main chicken coop per my plan.
Will they terrorize my other chickens?
Are Marans known to be aggressive?
Any thoughts or ideas

I have about 5 Maran mixes and I have found mine to be a bit more...aggressive...I hate to use that word for them but its all I can think of. My other hens are so much more accepting than others. When hatching out their eggs and others even the babies are more willing to be bold and pecking the others. I am not saying all of them are. And I am sure others breeds are known to be that way as well. I am sorry about your pullet. :( It is so sad. I usually wait to integrate when they are almost the same size. I think they may be less likely to pick the,. You can always try to add the 5 mnth olds in with the older flock, because they may learn that they are now not at the top of the pecking order. Just watch them. I put up small lean-tos for the others to get away. Just temporarily around the pen to encourage escape rather than fighting. Introducing new chickens is hard. You just dont know what will happen. I wish you the best! Again, I am truely sorry about the little one.
Jeanmarie

JM
Thanks for your comments.
Actually their size difference wasn't that great.
You can see one of the 2 new golden cuckoos on the far right in the pic.

Supposedly putting them in an adjoining run where they can see each other over time without coming into physical contact, and then introducing the new members at night is suppose to help.

I had a black Dutch Bantam roo that nearly scalped my Serama roo before I realized there was a problem. I separated them, each with a few other birds they had grown up with...kept them next to each other ...and introduced the two groups back to each other after a few weeks. So far, so good.

My Marans pullets have been pretty sweet, although I have read that that can be strain specific. The roos, on the other hand, have been bullies.

My thoughts are.. even if they are the same age, the newcomers are foreign and at the bottom... I agree with Catscan if you can put them where they will get accustomed to each other first.. my guess is it would really help.

I have some Marans pullets and don't find them aggressive at all.. but when you put a roo in the mix, and an established flock.. that's a different story.

I agree, that doesn't sound like the right area for a mortal wound, I have a flock of eight marans, I have had no real problem with them and have introduced a flock of six banties to them without any problem at all. Three weeks later in added three barred rocks also without any problem. But I do agree with Catscan, the roo's are quite aggressive. I had two of the roos and had to deal firmly with them.

I also agree with ZZ's, if you add a roo to the mix then you can indeed have a problem and I have even seen the Roo go after a new hen and kill her quickly. Hay

I wasn't adding a roo...they were/are pullets.
The cockerel was no agressive towards him...the 5 month old pullets were. I do not have adjoining runs to put them in.

That is a drag. I'm sorry that happened.

I have some cochin bantams I was sneaking in the coop with the big hens/roo at night cause I didn't have a place for them.. I ran out every morning early before Beau or the girls wanted to go out.. and grab them and just let them roam free during the day... It's been about a month.. it was a pain, but now they can run together with no problems.

I hope you can get it worked out.. I know that was hard to take.

She IS almost the same size. I am sorry. Could you put her in with them in a cage so they can see her? Like Catscan and ZZ said, them being comfortable seeing her can help. And then after awhile add her. Perhaps you can remove the rooster that is already in there with them now. They may be more accepting. He is not seemingly the aggressor but the girls act different around the roos. Pack mentality maybe. I do hope it goes better. I feel bad she is now the only one going in as a newbie. {{HUGS}} Be patient and chin up. It happens. It is never easy though.

I have a young Naked Neck roo--full of raging hormones. He is jumping anything he can sneak up on--the younger pullets scream and struggle to get away. The older hens are having nothing to do with it...they chase him away as soon as they see him coming. It is pretty funny and he is getting pretty nimble at leaping over the waterer and around the feeder with a vengeful hen in pursuit.

Cottage I'm sorry about your loss, it is always very hard. I know there are so many ways to try different things. Most add newbies to the coop first so they can relate first to where they live, but I do things a little different sometimes. An example is when I add my grown barred rocks to the grown marans, I put them in the run that is about 100x300 ft run, and that way there was plenty of room to run from any aggressors. It worked fine and I stayed in the run for a couple hours to make sure all was well. The rocks went in in the evening with the rest and there was no problem. I not saying everyone should do it that way, but having room to escape is very important to newbies. Haystack

Well get this...one of the 5 month old pullets has had some missing feathers by the base of her tail. I'm not sure why and the cockerel isn't breeding yet but she's been bald there for a long time with no issues. But today I go out and her whole real end is pecked and VERY bloody!
Those *bleeping* mean pullets turned on one of their sisters!
I guess after killing the new comer the other day they got a taste for blood and so they went after another one!
Never seen anything like this in 30 + years of raising chickens!!!

Wow Cottage, that is crazy. Is it possible there is one instigator? and then the pack mentality takes over. I have seen that also where there is one bully and then the others join in. That would make me angry and I would find the culprit and deal severly with her. I hope you can find the answer without loosing any more. Hay

I did watch the day I discovered the dead newbie.
There seemed to be a couple of aggressors but when I removed them some of the others took over. I think its most if not all of them.
I wish it was just one because that would be easier to deal with.
Thank you all for you concern and comments.

I had problems last spring introducing Cuckoo Marans and Salmon Favorelles into a flock with Silver-laced Wyandottes and White Rocks. The older hens were very aggressive and wouldn't let the youngsters eat. They pecked them mercilessly when they tried. I had to spread their food out in a long curved line so that everyone could get enough, instead of using the feeders. Eventually the older hens stopped going after the younger ones but it took awhile, and I suspect the losses we had may have been related to that aggression. We had never had this happen before either, after thirty-some years of keeping chickens, so I don't know what's going on. We're getting a new henhouse and are setting aside a third of the area for a brooder/chick house to avoid this in the future. How sad to see your poor newbie dead, Cottage Rose! I do sympathize!

Sure is a pain isn't it greenhouse gal?
I totally understand they have to do the pecking order thing but killing is a whole different ball game!

I know. We've had chickens with pieces taken out of them, pecked by their fellow hens. We also lost several Cuckoo Marans recently and we have no idea what happened to them; they were just dead in the chicken house when I opened it up in the morning to let them out.

Hey I got a great idea from a friend tonight.
She said to clip their upper beak and file it/smooth it out with a rasp so its slightly shorter than the bottom beak and they will be out of commission!
She said she does that with some of her turkeys when they start pecking too aggressively and their beaks grow back.
Boy oh boy am I gonna fix their wagons! BRATS!

We have thought about debeaking ours, too. A friend of ours who's a vet suggested we use a soldering iron for the purpose. Hatcheries will do it for you before shipping the baby chicks, but we'd never felt the need for that before. Debeaking thirty hens doesn't sound like much fun, though!

I added my young marans with my year olds.. they are getting along, but.. now no-one is laying eggs. It's been 3 weeks, somebodies got to start laying or we will have a full freezer camp this year.. standing room only don't ya know!

I *never* considered debeaking before because it seems kind of extreme, looks weird and I never needed to do it before but I
think its my only option with these meanie Marans.

For us the Marans are very gentle. It may have to do with the relative age and hierarchy of the birds and not just the breed. The Salmon Favorelles are REALLY timid, though. We only have one rooster and one hen left; they didn't do well. There were the attacks from the others and they also just seem less hardy.

My barred rocks are quite aggressive and often pick on the buff orpingtons. There have been no bleeding injuries since I started feeding the rocks on a concrete block; they blunt their own beaks. Would that be enough to help in your case?

Ooo, I like that idea, Porkpal! Sounds a lot easier than pulling out a soldering iron! Brilliant!

I think that is a perfect idea!.. I happen to have a nice large sidewake block that will now be moved into the chicken yard for feed!

That sure is good advice! Can you add apple cider vinigar to the water? I was told it can curb or end canibalism. That sure is bad behavior. I wish you the best. I will also remember that advice!