1138 newbie!

[1138]

Hi All just new to becoming a member but visited site often to find information on breeds and different things.My name is Kim and Iam from northwest Pa,mercer county,have had chickens in the past,buff orpingtons which I had to get rid of after having them from peeps until about 2yrs old!Neighbor didn't like the girls visiting every now and then,so so long girls,if only I would have built the coop and pen on the other side of the property!Now that I had been w/out chickens for a little over a year,I opted to build a run and anothercoop on the other side of my property and acquired 4 silver laced wyandotes and a jersey Giant rooster,and I mean Giant, really luv these birds.They are very docile,and luv people,however I just lost one last evening to a coyote or fox and it was heart breaking,I like to leave them free range all the time when I am at home and they will always go back into roost at sunset,and I close door to pen usually shortly afterwards,but one must have lingered a little to long out side of coop.Anyway Iam picking up 4 red orpingtons today after work,they are about same age 9-10 months,and wandring if anyone has any experience with introducing new birds into a already established flock? Any input would be great! Looking forward to chatting with fellow chicken owners! Thanks Kim. By the way Iam a guy not a girl,figured I would get that straight right away to avoid any missunderstadings!

 

[chicklover 1998]

Welcome to BYC!
nighttime works best from what I can tell, other things could be keeping them within sight but without access to each other (to prevent picking/ fighting), and remember that you have to quarantine for the 30 days

 

[Michael OShay]

Welcome to BYC, Kim. Glad you decided to join our flock. I'm sorry about your loss to the coyote or fox. It's always sad to lose one of our flock. ( If you haven't done so already, definitely check out our Learning Center at https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center. There is lots of useful information there. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Cheers.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Hi Kim

Glad you could join the flock! I'm sorry to read about loss, always very sad when a flock member is lost Here is a lovely article all about introducing new birds to your flock ~ https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/introducing-new-chickens-using-the-see-but-don-t-touch-method
I've used this method with great success in the past.

Good luck for the future and enjoy BYC

 

[drumstick diva]

It would also be a good idea to check out the predator threads and get advice on preventing attacks. If you use chicken wire, it does nothing but keep in chickens. Predators can cut through it like butter. A much better alternative is 1/2" hardware cloth. Costs more, lasts, much longer and can't be chewed through by normal predators - all bets are off if you have bears in the area.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[1138]

Hi All,Update on introduction of 2 new girls to the flock,1-8-16 picked up what I thought was going to be 4 red orpinton hens,turned out Im bad I must have misunderstood when the owner said she had 2 pairs!Was not thinking male and female!Any how I didn't need any more roosters,especially 2 more as my jersey Giant is enough to deal w/fo my girls.The owner however was gracious enough and looked pst my misunderstanding and offered to bring me two more hens on 1-12-16,Black orpingtons or lavender,she is such a blessing as these birds are from Hierloom Orpingtons out of florida aand might I ad that they are very people friendly and beautiful birds well taken care of.After setting the two reds in the run on 1-8,my jersey Giant of course got immediately friendly if you know what I mean,and the wyandots walked up to them and gave a good look and just went about their forageing what a blessing that this transcission was so easy,just like they grew up together,praying that the other two go as well! Will give a update later,and thanks for the wisdom and encouragement! 1138!

 

[Michael OShay]

Hi All,Update on introduction of 2 new girls to the flock,1-8-16 picked up what I thought was going to be 4 red orpinton hens,turned out Im bad I must have misunderstood when the owner said she had 2 pairs!Was not thinking male and female!Any how I didn't need any more roosters,especially 2 more as my jersey Giant is enough to deal w/fo my girls.The owner however was gracious enough and looked pst my misunderstanding and offered to bring me two more hens on 1-12-16,Black orpingtons or lavender,she is such a blessing as these birds are from Hierloom Orpingtons out of florida aand might I ad that they are very people friendly and beautiful birds well taken care of.After setting the two reds in the run on 1-8,my jersey Giant of course got immediately friendly if you know what I mean,and the wyandots walked up to them and gave a good look and just went about their forageing what a blessing that this transcission was so easy,just like they grew up together,praying that the other two go as well! Will give a update later,and thanks for the wisdom and encouragement! 1138!

You're welcome, and thanks for the update. I'm glad the transition went so smoothly. )

 

[1138]

Hi Again everyone,recieved my oher two hens yesterday,a Malay? I think that is what she said she was,but looks a awful lot like a Plymouth Rock speckled to me,I will have to do some more research on that one,looks a lot like my silver laced wyandottes,except with grayish blue instead!And I got a lavender and black orpington cross,beatiful birds!! And the transisscion was just as good as before!Everyone looks Happy and getting along just fine!

 

[N F C]

Before adding new birds to your existing flock, you should be isolating them for a period of about 30 days. That way you don't risk introducing an illness or pest to your current flock. It's not always possible to tell if a bird is healthy just by looking it over.