Adding a new girl

[lizm1221]

So we are 3 whole months into our chicken raising adventure. We got our 4 girls when they were a day old and things have been going great. Over the weekend we went to the feedstore to get some food. Of course we stopped to admire all the cute little chicks running around. This sweet little girl caught my eye so i asked about her and found out she was a blue wheten amerucana. She was too cute so she came home with us. She is about 2 months old so a month younger than my other girls and quite a bit smaller. 2 of my girls are ok with the new one. They are basically ignoring her, and the buff orpington actually tries to shield her sometimes, especially at roost time. One will peck her only if the new one gets close, but my red star actively chases her (she is the leader). Im worried the baby will get hurt. What is the best way to handle this? The new one is basically stuck in the coop all day because the red star chases her if she comes out. I shut the troublemaker up in the coop a bit today so the little one could get some fresh air. At night at roosting time the red star tolerates the new one as long as she keeps her distance. Should i just stay out of it and let them work it out?

 

[cluckcluckgirl]

My best advice would be to keep a close eye on her. If you notice the younger one getting hurt, you may want to put a pen within a pen there and put the red star in there, that way the younger one can roam around. Only keep the red star in there for a couple days, and make sure she still gets food and water. After a couple days, you can release the red star, but keep a close eye. This method should tech her that you are the boss, and allow her to see that the new one is here to stay.

 

[Tommy12241]

Hi I have a somewhat large operation and I`ve dealt with this a lot. What I would do is try and put the new hen in a place where she can be seen and the others can be close by but she can be safe. like a small pen or cage. Do it for a little while each day. The objective is to keep them separate while they can still have a look and get used to each other without the newby getting harmed. Sometimes it can be fatal if it gets out of hand. I lost an amerucana to an angry lead hen before. So try something like that and they should be fine. Please let me know how it goes!

 

[lizm1221]

Thanks guys! I'll have to try and figure out a pen for them. I'm so nervous for her even though i can see them from my sunroom i go out to check on her a few dozen times a day lol. We normally lock them up in the coop for the night but since we got her we have left the door open (the run is secure) because i don't want her trapped with no where to go.

 

[Tommy12241]

Good luck! Dont forget to let me know how it goes. I try and make sure my methods are correct for future help

 

[lizm1221]

I will! Hopefully in a few days we will have good news to report back

 

[lizm1221]

so it's been a little over a week. We ended up blocking off the area underneath our coop. we mostly kept the new chick under there (with food and water), but occasionally we would put the Red Star pack leader under there and allow the new chick to socialize with the 3 friendlier birds. At night they were allowing her to roost sort of near them in the coop, but we left the pop door open at night just in case she needed to get away. So at this point, we just took down the wire blocking off under the coop so they are together all the time. She is getting braver inching closer every day to being part of the flock. For the most part they are letting her, only chasing her off occasionally (or if there are treats involved, they don't let her near the treats). All in all, I think they are doing pretty well but we will probably continue to leave the pop door open at night for a few more days anyway. thanks for the advice