adding new hen to coop

[Doc Cluck]

I have a mama buff orphington with 2 (hopefully!) 4 month old hens that are her babies. Today we purchased a blue orphington hen. My chicken hate her! How long will this last? Will they eventually get along?

 

[cafarmgirl]

Yes, chickens HATE newcomers! It can be especially hard when integrating just one new bird to an existing small flock. What works best is to fence off a portion of the run for the new bird so they can spend their days next to each other for a few weeks. This gives everyone time to settle down and get used to each other without any physical contact and avoiding any particularly brutal attacks. The new bird can sleep in a dog crate in the coop at night. This may take a while, just keep at it and be patient, things should settle down eventually.