Adding new hens

[dlang94]

About 4 weeks ago I got one black australorpe, 1 NH red, and 1 half NH red half buff orpington. Those three are supposed to be a little over a year. Just a week ago I got 2 americuana hens. They are around a year old, this person I trusted more and i think the others could be a little older. I put the 2 americuana directly into the outside run with the others and the half NH red half buff kept bullying both other them to the point where they wouldn't go outside and when I went to the coop tried to jump out the door and leave. I took that one out and seperated half of the outside run and put her there and it didn't seem to bad. Then I noticed that the NH red is now taking the others place and bullying once again the americuanas are trying to leave the coop. So I seperated the two reds from the other 3 which the other 3 are fine together. My question is will this stop i have them seperated so they can see each other and eat close to each other just not come in contact. I am asking because if it is not likely to stop then I will give the bullys away and get new hens. Another question is i have a roost outside do I need a pole for roosting inside the coop?

 

[Keltara]

This is how I integrated my hens. It worked like a dream. I had 3 hens who were a little over a year old. We had raised them from day olds. The following year, we got 3 more newbies. We sectioned off part of our run so the big hens could see the babies. The babies went into this enclosure when they were around 6 weeks old. I kept them separate (completely) from the bigger girls. I let the big ones and little ones take turns free ranging, and at night, the babies slept in the run while the big girls slept in the coop. At around 8 weeks, I started to let the biggies and babies free range at the same time. The beauty of this, is that the babies could run away if the big girls tried to get them because they were not confined to a run but instead had our entire property. For many weeks, they would all free range together, but the babies would keep a respectable distance from the biggies. Eventually, they began to unite as one flock while free ranging. At that point, I started to sleep them all together in the coop but I would put the babies in after dark and I made sure to let everyone out first thing in the morning so the biggies didn't have a chance to beat up on the babies. By doing it this way, I discovered that the chickens were able to get used to each other, tolerate each other and learn to unite and understand their place in the pecking order without there EVER being a bullying situation. I let them do it in their way, and in their time. I hope this helps.

Kelly

✿​

Our Country Chronicles

✿​

​

 

[nova022]

I kept my 5 older and 4 younger birds side by side in separate runs and coops for about a month, but whenever I tried to combine the two groups there was brutal bullying to the point I feared for my younger birds lives. I decided to add the older birds one by one to the younger group, starting with the friendliest and give them a day to adjust before adding another one. I also moved the young birds the permanent coop/run and put the older ones in the other so the older birds would be so territorial. The first three went very smoothly, but the #1 and #2 hens needed several attempts. Now they all co-exist pretty well, with just the normal squabbles from time to time. My husband said he would never have believed that they would all be together.

 

[dlang94]

Thank you for the help what I have now is a better divider in the coop and the bullied americuanas and the black australorpe on the half with the feeder and water and the two NH reds on the other half with a tupperware of food and one of water and the run divided in half. I'm planning on doing this for about a week then ill let the one that isn't as much of a bully in then ill let the other one in.

 

[Moonkit]

What happened was that you added your newbies too quickly.. Your flock had an established social order and a defined territory.. to them, your new girls were nothing but invaders or interlopers. Unless intro'd before they're a few weeks old, this doesn't work. You have to let the oldies see and get to know the newbies before you allow any physical interaction (this is also good from a quarantine standpoint as well.. if someone suddenly gets sick after being moved).

When I intro'd my bantam d'uccle mix to my established flock, we put her in a large birdcage (roughly 4 ftX2 ft) with a roosting pole, food, and water dish in a shaded part of the run. The birdcage had 1/4 inch hardware cloth on all sides.. this allowed them to see her, and her to see them, but neither could actually reach and hurt the other. The hardware cloth wasn't even wide enough for their beaks to be able to get all the way through. We kept her in there for 2 weeks (aside from being allowed out to forage when the others were locked up).

At first, our hens did act aggressive with a few attempts to attack her through the cage, posturing and flaring hackles.. but after a week and a half, they calmed down and started acting normal around her.. at 2 weeks, we found her sitting against a corner of the cage with two of the other hens sitting next to that same corner on the outside of the cage "chatting". We allowed her out during their next foraging time.. there were two short fights that consisted of chest bumping and a few kicks and after that, they settled and went to dust bathe.. it was like she'd always been a part of the flock.

 

[nova022]

What happened was that you added your newbies too quickly.. Your flock had an established social order and a defined territory.. to them, your new girls were nothing but invaders or interlopers. Unless intro'd before they're a few weeks old, this doesn't work. You have to let the oldies see and get to know the newbies before you allow any physical interaction (this is also good from a quarantine standpoint as well.. if someone suddenly gets sick after being moved).

When I intro'd my bantam d'uccle mix to my established flock, we put her in a large birdcage (roughly 4 ftX2 ft) with a roosting pole, food, and water dish in a shaded part of the run. The birdcage had 1/4 inch hardware cloth on all sides.. this allowed them to see her, and her to see them, but neither could actually reach and hurt the other. The hardware cloth wasn't even wide enough for their beaks to be able to get all the way through. We kept her in there for 2 weeks (aside from being allowed out to forage when the others were locked up).

At first, our hens did act aggressive with a few attempts to attack her through the cage, posturing and flaring hackles.. but after a week and a half, they calmed down and started acting normal around her.. at 2 weeks, we found her sitting against a corner of the cage with two of the other hens sitting next to that same corner on the outside of the cage "chatting". We allowed her out during their next foraging time.. there were two short fights that consisted of chest bumping and a few kicks and after that, they settled and went to dust bathe.. it was like she'd always been a part of the flock.

You are so lucky. After a month of being side by side the established flock was very vicious to the new additions when I put them together. They would all gang up on one pullet and tear her up. Part of the problem was that the pullet would run away squawking when the first one pecked her and the the others would join in the chase. I really thought I would have to keep two separate flocks. The one pullet that would take her peck and ignore it had no problems fitting in and the little Andalusian who would stand up to them, although she always lost, was accepted much sooner than the runners.
My husband was given an 11 week old chick that was being beaten up by its flock mates and I really dread trying to introduce it after its quarantine.