Poorly chicken

[Columbian]

We bought two new bantams, a cuckoo Maran and a light Sussex, to join our existing flock of three Columbian Wyandotte bantams and are having problems getting them to integrate; at the moment there is a lot of chasing and pecking going on.  They have been free-ranging together for about three months but tend to split into their constituent parts.  For one night they all went into the Go Up, however, the following two nights the little cuckoo Maran was chased out and spent her night alone in a cat carrier in the run. (The two used this before attempting to join the rest of the flock in the Go.).  Last night we had fun and games in the fading light and heavy rain looking for the Maran after having to grab the Sussex as she has decided to ‘hatch’ some eggs under a tree (she is not making broody noises and has only just come into lay) and, in making a squawk before we got a towel over her head the Maran panicked and went into the hedge; thankfully, we managed to herd the Maran into the run so that everyone was safe for the night; the newbies spent the night on the high perch.  We were told that the new chicken had been handled but they are very nervous of us and it has taken a long time to get them to come up to feed from our hands, something that they have stopped doing.

Are we worrying too much about it all?  We expected them to have become one flock after a few weeks but the aggression seems to be worse.  Although supplied as POL the Maran was very young and still cheeped and hid under the light Sussex, who is older.  Our biggest worry is their not going into the WIR at night as we have a badger which visits every night and foxes in the paddock.  I am not new to keeping chicken but it is several decades since we had a flock on the farm of mixed hens, bantams and a couple of cockerels, maybe 15-20 chicken in total.

Any suggestions, please, as to how to improve matters.  Should be just let them get on with it as there is no blood drawn? Thank you.             

[Beantree]

The existing hens are protecting their space. You don't say how much they have? To resolve the problem, assuming they have enough space, is to put the existing hens into another area and coop. Put the new hens in the area you want them to be and re-introduce the originals a week later, one at a time, starting with the lowest in the pecking order over possibly a few days, even a week. Don't put a new hen in until the pecking order is established after the arrival of the previous. Eventually the original top hen will be joining an established flock and won't cause too many problems. BUT it's all about space. If you have less than 1m2 per hen, preferably 2m2 you shouldn't have bought more hens.

[mullethunter]

As long as they are all safe from predators and no blood is being drawn then yes, I would let them get on with it. The first time I did it was with 2 pairs of very differently aged hens and it took ages. 

As Beantree says, the amount of space you have available will be a big factor but from reading your post I’m imagining that’s not a problem.

[Columbian]

Beantree and mullethunter, the chicken have about almost an acre to roam in; garden, orchard and paddock, so space is not an issue.  Thank you for your comments.