Adding a new hen to the breeding pair

[drowe005]

I was considering adding a new hen to my current breeding pair of Chukars in hopes of hatching more chicks. The pair I currently have are from a first of the year hatch so they are adults now. Would it be a bad idea to add a 2nd hen into the cage with the pair? Or should they get along OK. I know there are some exceptions to the rules but wondering what you thought. The pair currently lives in a 12 square foot cage (6'x2') so they wouldn't be in a cramped space together. Thanks for any input

 

[Tony K T]

Usually you can add hens to a pair ,if you put all birds into a new pen.If you add a hen to an existing pen,the birds that are in their will defend their pen to any introders.Yes, even if it's another hen.But the problems is,your talking about chukars.They are very mean little buggers and you cannot trust them one bit.If you do add a new hen and they seem to get along fine,keep an eye on them all the time.A 6x2 pen is not very big ecspecialy for chukars.They need space to get away from each other when trouble starts.Is their pen on the ground?Or on wire?I had great luck with raising them on the ground with masonry sand on the floor.Give them lots of hiding places and a couple of roosting places.A single pair of chukars will produce a lot of chicks.Maybe you should get another pair and run 2 breeder pens.Then you can use chicks from each breeding pair to start unrelated pairs for the following season.Put the hens from one pair to the males from the other and vise versa.Or even trios or quads.
In N.H.,Tony.