Adding new members to our lone survivor

[amarti23]

I"m new to chicken owning. We got our flock of 4 in March and raised from chicks. This past week while out of town our pet sitter didn't latch the coop door all the way and the wind blew the door open. 3 got out and our dog got them . Now we have a 5 month old Crochin (still not laying) all alone. I'm trying to find chickens the same age and so far what we have found is some 5 month olds but mainly 14 week old pullets. Is it ok to mix the ages together? Will our lone survivor be more receptive to any company at this point?
Any advise is appreciated.

 

[Sara Ranch]

She should be fine. The recommended way is to slowly introduce them with a fence between them for a few weeks.

In one of my flocks, I have 14 & 15 & 21 weeks old & 2 years old. They get along fine.

The egg laying will come when the time is right for the pullet.

Is her comb red yet? When it turns bright red, she's close to be laying.

I am sorry about your losses. *hug*

 

[Chickassan]

As long as you do the look but don't touch introduction it should be fine. You know separate the new ones from your one chicken and just let them look and talk but not touch. After a few days let them meet but give them hiding places in case stuff gets ugly. Your chicken would probably love some new friends they are flock animals.

 

[Mrs. K]

She won't like them at first. However, if you get 4 of them, she is not going to be able to chase all of them all the time. I would anticipate little problems. I would try just adding them at first. Do it near dark, see how it goes. A few scuffles is what I would expect. Do it as soon as possible, before she really gets used to being alone.

 

[amarti23]

Thanks for all the input. We put her in last night and she was pecking at a few so we have put her in a separate cage. Would keep her isolated for a week so that the new three can establish a new pecking order be a good idea? We have already seen that one is top bird of the other two.

 

[Mrs. K]

No, separating birds generally causes more problems than it is worth. Unless you have a bird that is cornered and being pecked bloody, which would be pretty hard to do with just one older bird. It is best to put them together and let them sort it out, otherwise you just prolong it, some people prolong it over weeks, and it will be months before it truly settles down.

A few pecks is normal, let them get that out of their system, and it should settle down in a few days. If you think that the big older bird is just too rough on the new birds, you could cage her a couple of hours each day, to give the babies a break, but when you let her out, it will just start all over. Each time you separate them, you are starting all over.

A rule of thumb, if there is no blood, do not interfere. If there is, then you separate them behind a fence, where they can still see each other, but not touch, but them push the feed stations together so they have to eat together.

Now, take a look at your set up, what does work very well, much better than separating your birds, is making the run, multi-dimensional. As in up. Many runs I see are simple open space. No place for a bird to hide or get away from the other birds. Stick a broom handle kitty corner 3-5 feet off the ground for a roost. Get some pallets and put them up on blocks. Birds can get under or on top, actually giving you more space. Lean a pallet up against the wall. Put up a partial wall, maybe three feet wide, with a scrap of plywood, open on both sides, but a bird could eat behind it out of site of the others. Add two feeding stations and water stations.

Now if your run is not like that, it would be even better, as changing it up will make it neutral territory. All the birds will be confused and excited. Then put them in together and let them work it out.


Mrs K

 

[amarti23]

Thanks for all the advice. We put them all together. Some pecking but nothing major. I've been in the dumps over this loss. Out new girls are so different and don't really like each other. I really hope they all eventually get along. They won't even eat out of my hands

 

[amarti23]

She should be fine. The recommended way is to slowly introduce them with a fence between them for a few weeks.

In one of my flocks, I have 14 & 15 & 21 weeks old & 2 years old. They get along fine.

The egg laying will come when the time is right for the pullet.

Is her comb red yet? When it turns bright red, she's close to be laying.

I am sorry about your losses. *hug*

Her comb is very red. She's 24 weeks according to my calculations. Hopefully she starts laying soon.

 

[Sara Ranch]

*hugs* Losses are hard. Bringing in new birds is hard...but you can easily come to love them. It's new to everyone, including the new girls. Give them time to adjust to you.

Not every bird, no matter how much love (or treats) you give them, will eat from your hand. It's ok.