pecking order

[papeine]

I added two ameracauna's to my group... How long does it take to determine who's above who? the reason I ask is.. the inside of my coop is about 10x12... when they are all in..the two new ones are up on the roost, they don't come done to eat or mix with the other chickens at all.. (I got them last Saturday). I do close the checken door at night cuz it does get pretty cold, so they ar eall locked in the coop at night.
The new girls are about 30 weeks old and have not started laying yet, with the stress of moving them to this new group.. I don't really expect them to for a few weeks.. is that a correct assumption on my part??.

Should I be doing something different??

 

[easttxchick]

It is correct that stress will cause them to stop laying for a bit.
As long as they are being allowed to eat and drink and not being bullied by the others, I would just let nature take it's course. Eventually, they should blend in-if not, that's OK as well-I have several different "cliques" among my girls.
Sounds like all is pretty normal for adding new birds.
Just FYI-it is a good idea to quarantine new birds for 30 days just to make sure they aren't sick and possibly transmitting something to your existing flock.
Good luck and congrats on your new additions!

 

[mdbokc]

Rule number one is to isolate from your main flock for 30 days to prevent transmission of disease. Since that has been bypassed, it looks like you are going to have to let nature take it's course. If either or both of these two get beat up pretty badly, then I would isolate the two new ones and create a setup where they (old and new) can see each other but remain separate for a couple of weeks to help them get used to each other. Looks to me like that is where you are now. Good luck.

 

[papeine]

Quote:
they are not getting beat up.. but they haven't really gotten to close to the others yet.. they don't go outside like the others, but hwere I got them from...they were not let outside
dang.. I wish I would hae thought about that.. isolating them.. I did this wih new horses..makes sense to do the same with chickens.. this is a learning process for me..thanks!!!

 

[papeine]

Quote:
never even crossed my mine to separate them... a valuable lessen learned... I hope nature is good to me and my girls!!!

thanks!!

 

[Tropical Chook]

From what I can see, my birds have never managed to establish a pecking order, apart from the rooster being in command. None of my hens really get along with each other even though they've been together since birth. With that said, all mine are Shamos, so they only tolerate each other. On the occasions that I add an outsider, things have been no different. The other hens don't gang up on a new bird at all, but they also won't be very friendly. The only time any of my hens get along as good friends should, is when they are sharing a squad of newly hatched fuzzy butts. Once the fuzzy butts start taking care of themselves, the two friendly mommies don't want to know each other again

While I know it goes against all the good advice out there, I also never bother quarantining new birds. So far I've never had a problem doing it this way, but then again, I rarely bring in birds from the outside. I want to keep the breed I have pure, so unless I am 100% sure a bird I have my eye on is a pure bred Shamo, it doesn't get accommodation here.

That reminds me, I'm due a very handsome stag next week

 

[pontoosuc]

So my two EE's were very gradually integrated into the original 14 pullets. So now we have
14 ea at 28 week and the 2 EE's at 22 weeks. One EE is fine and the second is just an attachment
to the first. No eggs yet. Cannot even imaging the second EE ever laying.