Adding a new chicken to a very small flock

[r1forb]

Hi Ladies! Yes it's been a crazy week! Last Sat I was successful in trading Fred (thank goodness) at the Farm swap for a 8mo old Barred Rock hen, so maybe you will have some pointers for me here. I've named her Lucy since Fred is gone and "Ethyl & Lucy" were best friends

after all that is was I'm hoping for in the long run. I will copy what I posted yesterday on a different thread. I haven't received any responses. Ivy maybe you will have some input since you have this breed. As for Ethyl she seems to be pretty content (actually **** happy there is no rooster chasing her non-stop). I can hardly believe it but I swear the girl is house trained!!! She WILL NOT poop in her coop lol. She goes to bed pretty early sometimes especially if it's windy or if it's raining. And sometimes if it's a chilly morning or raining I may not go down and open everything up right away because her lights are on inside and she has food and water inside with her. BUT now I almost feel too guilty to ever be late in the mornings because she comes flying out the door to "do her duty"!!! she holds it all night until she gets back out in the run! Have you ever seen a chicken do this?? Also I've brought her in the garage and in my art room and laundry room in the house a few times (something I NEVER thought I would so) just so she had company and not 1 single accident. I'm telling you I have a house trained chicken! hahaha

OK so this is what is going on ....what I posted yesterday :

I'm new to having chickens and so far have only had Turkens, which I raised from about 2.5 weeks. Our Rooster absolutely HAD to go, so last Sat I traded him at a farm swap meet for a 8 month old Barred Rock hen, of who I was told was already laying. Now I do understand she could be stressed but how long might it be, before I see an egg from her? IF she was in fact already laying eggs. I was so excited to finally be getting eggs (or so I thought) ,as my Turken hen is just turning 5 mos tmrw and is not laying yet.
The BR whom I have named Lucy is in Quarantine in a nice large coop of her own inside my garage. I have not had the chance to take her outside yet due to weather, but I do have a sun lamp in there for her. She has had what I would call diarrhea or extremely watery poop since bringing her home. It worried me as I have NEVER seen something like this come out of my Turkens. I did just check out the "poop" page and according to that I guess I don't have much to worry about(it looks exactly like the pic labeled "watery") but as I said, my turkens do not poop anything like this. Is it normal for it to be almost projectile pooping ....I mean I could actually hear this girl from across the garage!!!

At first I thought she could be dehydrated. I was worried she was not drinking. I tried a few different dishes in a few different places and then finally caught her drinking, but now she seems to be using the water to throw in the feed dish (Nutrena) and make paste??? Then after that she started throwing water on the floor (I have cardboard liner under the hay so she wasn't right on the concrete) and uses it to help her peel up strips of cardboard. I thought she was doing this to make a nest ...maybe she didn't care for the nest box I had in there??

But then I found her eating the cardboard!! She doesn't let me near her so I can feed her collards and such as I feed my others. She even scares when I try to toss scratch in. She runs to one corner of the coop. She will eventually come out for a grape if I toss it in after she runs from it. She obviously was never handled. I'm hoping this will get better once she can be around Ethyl and see how much Ethyl loves me.
I will say she has warmed up a tiny bit. She did eat freely today no matter how many times I was in and out of the garage. She doesn't appear sick or underweight and does seem to be eating plenty of feed and drinking now, but should I be worried about the diarrhea and the weird cardboard issues??? And why no eggs??? Is there anything special I SHOULD be doing for her??? And I did see her sneeze 1 time and actually thought I saw something come out ....something else I have never witnessed from the Turkens. But that only happened once. I bring my dogs and Ethyl in and out of the garage and now I'm wondering should I not even be doing that. (Ethyl, my Turken hen comes in to help me do laundry sometimes

so she doesn't get lonely waiting for her new friend Lucy) I did read where someone said not to let them even breathe the same airspace.
Sorry for the long post...just wanted you to have all the info on this new Hen Lucy and my sweet girl Ethyl. Any thoughts or info would be appreciated.
Thanks and Merry Christmas!

Here are 2 pics of Lucy...not very good ones as they are from my phone. She's still so shy I haven't wanted to shove a camera in her face




Oh and PS my incubator came today!!

 

[Ivytwilight]

Hi Ladies! Yes it's been a crazy week! Last Sat I was successful in trading Fred (thank goodness) at the Farm swap for a 8mo old Barred Rock hen, so maybe you will have some pointers for me here. I've named her Lucy since Fred is gone and "Ethyl & Lucy" were best friends

after all that is was I'm hoping for in the long run. I will copy what I posted yesterday on a different thread. I haven't received any responses. Ivy maybe you will have some input since you have this breed.

Hey! ^^ Happy you got your girl another girl to be with. I do not have Barred Rock hens, I have Dominique Hens. ( We ordered this breed specifically for their foraging skills and docile demeanor ^^) They look very similar, but the Dominique will have a rose comb, they are also smaller than barred rocks, and their pattern isn't as sharp. My girls are more gray than white and more dark gray than black!
Breed Colors / Varieties:
Correct Dominique barring is not quite black on not quite white, and the bars are staggered, rather than the parallel and sharply contrasting black and white barring of the Barred Rock.
If your pullet has the same comb as my hen does than you might have a Dominique on your hands and not a Barred Rock. I would look both up in the breed pages. (As I am no expert by any means AT ALL) I would have to say from your photos she looks like she might have a rose comb. I would also keep your new bird as separated as possible until you are sure she is healthy!!! And I feel your pain about eating the cardboard, our hens have started to peck at our siding almost like woodpeckers would!! They are causing quite a bit of damage.
I would try, once you do introduce them to put them both somewhere they haven't been before, even just another room in your house and see if putting them in a new space works to introduce them better! If you do have a Dom on your hands she might be a bit of a bully. Also have lots of treat ready to distract them, perhaps a head of cabbage! I know my girls were and in fact have given up introducing new chickens to them for the time being. With two lonely girls maybe they will get along right away! We can all hope!
As for not laying eggs because of stress, just this morning our neighbors Rottweiler jumped the 7 foot brick wall and got into our yard. He didn't attack the hens as they were still in their run at the time, but he freaked them out enough that one hen didn't lay today and the other didn't lay until it almost 5pm, even then only after we were in the yard weeding for a couple hours and they calmed down considerably. This is the first day Plouffe hasn't laid so I know the stress of the dog is the culprit. As long as she is eating and acting normal I wouldn't worry about it. There could also be the fact maybe the person you got her from told a little fib and she actually isn't laying yet? Just a thought. I hope all is going well!

 

[Ivytwilight]

Ivy: Great picture of Plouffe! Your chickens have very interesting names. How did you come up with them?
Laying after 4 is pretty late. I find my girls have a wide range of times when they will lay. Sometimes really early sometimes not until after 3pm but rarely later. It is nice when they lay at around the same time, that way no one is lonely but it rarely works out that way. Let me know how it goes with just the current duo.

I am thrilled your introduction went a lot smoother than mine did! Yeah, we haven't had that problem again! They usually lay by 12pm. I got their names from the last names of major league baseball players I thought were funny as heck. Bummy was Madison Bumgarner, he is a pitcher for the Giants. Plouffe was named after Trevor Plouffe third baseman for the Twins, and Furbush was named after Charlie Furbush a pitcher for the Mariners (Can you imagine growing up with that name!!) When I first saw him pitch I laughed so hard I was brought to tears! So, when I got the three girls I just had to give them the names Bumgarner, Plouffe, and Furbush. My neighbors probably think I am insane as I yell "Furbush stop eating the house!" outside the patio door when they peck at the siding.
The two girls are doing better and seem to be pleased with just each other, though today we had a Rottweiler jump from our neighbor's yard into ours! They were shaken up, but safe in their run. The neighbor took the dog in as a stray, but is getting rid of him because he also does not want anything to happen to our chickens. He used to raise chickens himself and he is fond of our girls. They have developed a habit of eating our siding the last week however...I will post somewhere on here and hope someone can give me help with that. Other than that odd habit all is well again for the desert chickens.

A little doodle I drew when I had the three of them! Tea Time for Three! Love the Dominique, even if they are little stinkers!

 

[Hishigata]

Update:

The new girls (Pumpkin & Nutmeg) seem to be getting on fine with the bigger girls (Salt & Pepper). Nutmeg is getting close to the same size as Salt and sometimes challenges her for treats. The little girls still give Salt and Pepper their space but the radius gets smaller each week. Pepper will still occasionally chase the little girls but she loves chasing squirrels, pigeons, and grackles too. I think it is just a game for her. Salt also seems more curious than aggressive. The biggest surprise was finding all four were huddled under the potting bench yesterday when it rained. Salt was between the little girls and Pepper, maybe since Salt is little she likes having similar sized companions? Haha..that won't last long as Nutmeg will be a monster of a barred rock from the looks of things.

Ivy: Your drawing is so cute. I love the spotted tea cup! Is the hen on top the noisy one? I hope your two girls are still getting along fine as a duo. I will have to send a picture of Nutmeg now that she is bigger. She was sold to me as a barred rock but her feather pattern looks more like what you described as a dominique. Her comb is too under developed to make a judgement based on its shape.

r1forb: How is Lucy? My hens sometimes sneeze usually on days when it is dusty/windy. If it is only occasional perhaps it is okay. I would still keep Ethyl separated just in case, but as your 30 day quarantine may well be up I guess it is moot now. Have you introduced the two girls? I hope they are becoming as good of friends as their namesakes.

Happy New Year!

 

[Ivytwilight]

Ohh Ohh do post pictures of them getting along! I am glad your bigger girls are not real jerk like my two were >< I still love 'em though. The girls are getting along well with each other. I am so happy that they are laying together too! They barely make a peep now, unless they are happy chattering noises. They do love to talk to each other and anyone in ear shot, but it is not abrasive in any sense of the word. They don't even sing egg songs anymore. The only time they get loud is when a hawk is flying overhead and they make a B line to their coop, or if I am outside they run toward me and huddle between my legs. Furbush is usually pretty on the ball when it comes to birds of prey and sadly we do have plenty around, which is why I let them out to forage in the late afternoon. But that is the only noise they make anymore! The third lady really was the issue. Plouffe is even less shy than she was when they were a trio. I guess I will have to live with two chickens seeing I cannot add more than one or two birds at this time. Perhaps in the future! Keep us posted about your chickies coming together as a flock! I hope things continue to go smoothly!

Here they are using their nesting box together and half an hour later two eggs! So perfect! I couldn't ask for more from them. I like to think Furbush is thinking "Guess what? Chicken butt!"
As a new chicken owner I can say they make me laugh almost everyday! I didn't know they would be such a joy to own. (They were eating the siding off the house for a while, but we got that problem under control. Have a whole thread on that and grateful for everyone's help on the issue!)

A little tile I painted called Plouffe and Flower!

 

[Hishigata]

Update with Pictures:

The girls continue to get along fairly well. A hawk flew through the yard today. Pumpkin and Nutmeg took cover but Salt and Pepper leapt on top of the compost heap and made the biggest ruckus. I think they were trying to scare it off (it was a relatively small Sharp-Shinned Hawk). Pepper stood very erect for about another 5 minutes after it had gone making a strange low pitched growl. It was weird, but I am glad the big girls are protecting the little ones.

Here are Salt, Pumpkin, and Nutmeg eating grain together. Pepper declined to be in the photo as she is in molt and looks a fright.




A close up of Nutmeg playing in the philodendron by the kitchen steps. She is supposed to be a barred rock but her feather barring is not super distinct...




Ivy:
Your girls looks happy together. Chicken butt, indeed! You are lucky they lay at the same time. I wish my girls could get their act together. Currently only Salt lays since Pepper is molting.

I attached a picture of Nutmeg her comb looks like a single not a rose at this point, but her barring is not very distinct. She is starting to make big chicken-ish sounds. She also seems pretty intelligent. Pumpkin is just a silly little thing running around with no thought for where she is going. Haha.

Also found the picture of Salt in the kitchen that remind me of your earlier pictures. She acts like the owns the place. Such a bossy Roo-hen!

 

[alanhugs]

Thanks for the sound advice. I am a newbie both to the site, and to chickens.
I wish I had read this Forum before yesterday! So much to learn.

We recently moved to a rural area, and a week ago we were given 2 laying hens of about a year old. I built them a nice coop/run and they settled in well, laying eggs every day since arrival. They were pets, so gentle and used to being cuddled and fussed over. The dominant one is a bit scraggly, missing some feathers and more anxious than her sister who is very calm.

Yesterday we got 2 new birds, teenagers (close to laying age), and made all the mistakes I have just read up about on this site. With too much zeal and enthusiasm, and not enough knowledge, we let them out into the coop together with the older girls. The more dominant older hen got quite upset, making a noise and pecking a warning at the young ones if they got too close. I was aware of the "pecking order" so I was not concerned, she was not hurting them, just putting them in their place. The other older one retreated to her bedding box, a few sounds but no action. The younger ones ran around eating and scratching, checking out their new surrounds.

What worried me was that a little later the dominant older hen got quite neurotic and started acting strangely. It looked like she was trying to get away from the coop, trying to climb out under the edge, and kept bumping her head against the wire fencing of the enclosure. She was not attacking the new hens. Worried that she was hurting herself, we took the older hens out, cuddled them and then put them to bed early in their bedding boxes/hutch, thus separating them from the new ones for the night. She kept making vocal complaints for some time but settled as it got dark.

This morning I divided the coop/run with both fencing and cardboard, so the new 2 and old 2 have a thin wall between them, they can hear each other but are not visible to each other. Things seemed ok, but as I was leaving for work the old hen started her neurotic behaviour again. I am concerned she may do herself an injury.

Have you or anyone else out there ever experienced this with a hen. It is almost as if she has "panic attacks" fretting around, making a noise and bumping against the wire, as if trying to get away.

All advice appreciated,
Alan.

 

[Hishigata]

alan:

This is my first time adding chickens to an existing flock too and I have certainly made my share of chicken care bloopers. I am glad this thread has been of help. I have not had a hen act frantic in response to a new hen before. However, my Lakenvelder does get frantic at egg time. She exhibits the same behavior you described. She runs along the fence making an angry grunting noise and bumping her head into it like she is trying to get out. Usually their pen is open and she makes it out only to do the same thing on the outside as if she is trying to get back in. I don't understand it myself but she usually calms down on her own, lays her egg, and goes back to normal. How long did your hen act frantic? My girl Salt sometimes is in panic mode for over an hour but she has yet to cause herself harm. Usually she just exhausts herself.

I think you did the right thing in separating the hens. Usually there is quarantine period before introducing new hens of about 30 days to make sure the new hens do not have any diseases that could infect your current flock. Since you have already introduced them this is probably not necessary now. I would keep them separated with the cardboard and see if the older hen calms down after a few days. A little food can be a good distracter ,if your hen is food motivated at all. I suggest a gradual introduction. I did my introduction over the course of several weeks. After a week of cardboard barrier put up some chicken wire as a barrier so they can see each other and interact a little but still have their space. Once they are ok with seeing each other reintroduce them without a barrier. Make sure they have plenty of space to get away from each other. It seems a lot of problems stem from keeping birds in too confined a space.

I hope things work out for you. As you may have noticed other people on this thread have had cases where hens did not fit well and had to be re-homed. Just like people some hens just don't get along. Hopefully your older hen will come to accept the new girls. At least none of the hens are being overly aggressive. Keep us updated.

 

[Ivytwilight]

Alan
I would think as long as she is not hurting herself you can just let that behavior happen. Mine do the same thing about half an hour before I let them out of their run everyday. I tried explaining to them that there are many, many hawks in the morning and early afternoon. So, they cannot be let out until late afternoon, but go figure they just don't seem to want to listen to me. Perhaps throw some scratch in or get a head of cabbage and let them peck away at it! Mine love to scurry after spinach throw into the run. At first it upset me when they would pace, chest bump the chicken wire, but now I think of it as their laps before I let them forage.

I did have to re-home the hen I tried to introduce, but from the get go my one hen, Furbush, was down right violent and caused injury. She is a very stubborn girl, much to my sorrow. I have read Dominique can be big bullies to other chickens. I hope you have fare more success! Don't be afraid to take things slow. ^.-

Quote:

I attached a picture of Nutmeg her comb looks like a single not a rose at this point, but her barring is not very distinct.

Yeah, I would say that is a single. My girls' combs never looked like that. Actually, with them it was like no comb, no comb, and SHAZAM COMBS!!


Only teeny, tiny pumps for her comb, and then I swear one morning I walked out she had a full fledged rose comb! ^^ It seemed to me there was no in-between stage. They grow so fast.

This is a good picture of their rose combs in different stages. Bummy was always behind her sisters (she is on the right) Furbush was always in the middle of the growth (she is on the left) and Plouffe is the pretty lady bird in the middle! I think she is the best looking out of the bunch.

And those photos of your Salt in the kitchen are amazing! She is so adorkable!! She appears to be quite the sassy, bit of goods! Also may I say, love the hardwood floors!

 

[Hishigata]

Ivy:

My chicken's combs came in the same way; little nubs one day and then suddenly just before laying they got big and red. I think Salt has the largest comb I have ever seen on a hen. She is a sassy girl. I sometimes call her Napoleon since she seems to be trying to over compensate for her diminutive size with big attitude. Surprisingly she has been the most accepting of the new birds.

I like your dust bathing chickens photo. They always look so funny sprawled out in the dirt. The Dominique comb is so neat and pretty. I think I prefer them to singles or other larger head ornaments. Also meant to ask, are your chickens laying through the winter? I decided not to light my coop so they could live au natural but Salt is still laying about 4 eggs a week. Pepper stopped laying around Christmas and has been in molt since new year. I am not sure if that is a result of daylight change or not. I am not even certain how long molt should last. Do you use a light or do the girls just keep laying without it?

I like hardwood too. It is easier to clean up chicken accidents and cooking accidents too. The kitchen is actually a refinished pine underfloor. It was originally covered in ancient vinyl tile but with a little stain it turned out almost as nice as the actual hardwood floors in the rest of the house.