Lucyjuice
Hatching
- Sep 30, 2020
- 2
- 1
- 8
Hi there lovely community
I have a 2 yr old barnevelder named Ponyo, who recently lost her best mate Honey 6 days ago to a fox.
She is lonely and sad, also has mites we discovered today, and so has been extra lethargic. Have dusted her in pestene and ordered some mite spray and disposed of bedding. I thought she was depressed (and I kind of was too) so we got a few newbies, from the same farm.
One is a 7 week old Silkie and 8 week old Pekin. It’s been two days, At the moment they are indoors in a hutch, and not sure when or how to introduce them or when they can move in with Ponyo.
We have a different setup here, Ponyo and Honey were semi indoor ladies, and would walk in and out of our house as they pleased. Being in covid lockdown we have been housebound and always around to watch them. Ponyo is VERY tame, often sitting on our dining table while my partner works on the laptop. Strange I know. Spoilt city chicks.
Today I introduced the new ladies visually to Ponyo. They were in a metal cage and Ponyo walked around, she made strange noises and two attempts to peck them. It was about 25 minutes and we popped the little ones back in their hutch which is elevated and hidden from Ponyo view, she walked in and out still though and could hear them cheep cheep.
They are obviously much smaller than her and not ready to meet fully for a while, but advice on when and how would be incredible. Also when and how to let them live together. We have a kids size cubbyhouse in our courtyard (we are in a city, so don’t have heaps of space, maybe 4m by 4m. The cubby is reinforced internally with chicken wire and another layer of timber (after the fox attack I went to TOWN) and there are two levels and a ramp. I am wondering if I will need to change the design to accommodate?
Honey and Ponyo used to just cuddle up together upstairs but I don’t know if these three will be the same level of mates because of the age gap. Honey was a small Pekin too so Ponyo is definitely already the head of the pack.
All tips welcome! Much appreciated and sorry for the essay!
Lucy
I have a 2 yr old barnevelder named Ponyo, who recently lost her best mate Honey 6 days ago to a fox.
She is lonely and sad, also has mites we discovered today, and so has been extra lethargic. Have dusted her in pestene and ordered some mite spray and disposed of bedding. I thought she was depressed (and I kind of was too) so we got a few newbies, from the same farm.
One is a 7 week old Silkie and 8 week old Pekin. It’s been two days, At the moment they are indoors in a hutch, and not sure when or how to introduce them or when they can move in with Ponyo.
We have a different setup here, Ponyo and Honey were semi indoor ladies, and would walk in and out of our house as they pleased. Being in covid lockdown we have been housebound and always around to watch them. Ponyo is VERY tame, often sitting on our dining table while my partner works on the laptop. Strange I know. Spoilt city chicks.
Today I introduced the new ladies visually to Ponyo. They were in a metal cage and Ponyo walked around, she made strange noises and two attempts to peck them. It was about 25 minutes and we popped the little ones back in their hutch which is elevated and hidden from Ponyo view, she walked in and out still though and could hear them cheep cheep.
They are obviously much smaller than her and not ready to meet fully for a while, but advice on when and how would be incredible. Also when and how to let them live together. We have a kids size cubbyhouse in our courtyard (we are in a city, so don’t have heaps of space, maybe 4m by 4m. The cubby is reinforced internally with chicken wire and another layer of timber (after the fox attack I went to TOWN) and there are two levels and a ramp. I am wondering if I will need to change the design to accommodate?
Honey and Ponyo used to just cuddle up together upstairs but I don’t know if these three will be the same level of mates because of the age gap. Honey was a small Pekin too so Ponyo is definitely already the head of the pack.
All tips welcome! Much appreciated and sorry for the essay!
Lucy
Hi, Lucy, it will take time and patience. Gradual integration monitored carefully starting with free ranging together. Good luck.
