Recently, when I went to let our 6 chickens out I found the smallest chicken I've ever seen, just hanging out behind our coop. We later identified her as a mille fleur serama, a beautiful delicate little creature. I'm guessing someone dumped her in our yard, though I can't imagine why. So we set her up a little extra coop and a small yard where our girls could see her but not get to her. There was a lot of fuss over her presence initially, but everyone pretty much seemed to get used to her after a while, and even hung out nearby to her pen a fair amount of the day.
So eventually came time to try to integrate her. I was a bit unsure of this because of the drastic size difference between the serama and our hens. I snuck her in with ours after dark, and she snuggled beneath the BOs and two of the EEs. Next morning I made sure to get up early and observe wake up time. It was clear she was an outsider in the morning, and there was a little bit of chasing her off from the food, but no violent clashes. I went back inside after a bit, glancing out occasionally. At one point I looked out and found the serama had made her way back into her small yard, which was now open so she could free range with the others, and I figured she just liked the familiar turf. A few minutes later, I glanced out again to see our barred rock EE -- typically our friendliest bird -- had her pinned against some fencing. The little hen's wing had caught in the fence as she tried to escape and the EE was trying to peck her to death, and the serama looked resigned to this outcome. We rushed out to rescue her, cleaned and tended her wounds: She was quite bloody but it all seemed superficial. We've separated her into her small yard/coop again.
I never would have chosen such a small bird to join our flock, but of course, this wasn't my choice. However, when presented a challenge such as this little orphaned bird I usually try to make things work. Here are my questions for more seasoned chicken owners:
Is this the inevitable outcome of introducing a single small bird to a well-established flock of large birds? Should we take this as a sign the serama could never be accepted by our girls because of the size difference? Does a hen - our usually-friendly barred rock EE - who has attacked another smaller bird in this manner become a repeat offender, ie. would any further efforts to bring the serama out only result in more violence? I know this is just the way chickens are, but I certainly don't want to subject the serama to further injury and fear. I'd just like to do right by her at this point.
So eventually came time to try to integrate her. I was a bit unsure of this because of the drastic size difference between the serama and our hens. I snuck her in with ours after dark, and she snuggled beneath the BOs and two of the EEs. Next morning I made sure to get up early and observe wake up time. It was clear she was an outsider in the morning, and there was a little bit of chasing her off from the food, but no violent clashes. I went back inside after a bit, glancing out occasionally. At one point I looked out and found the serama had made her way back into her small yard, which was now open so she could free range with the others, and I figured she just liked the familiar turf. A few minutes later, I glanced out again to see our barred rock EE -- typically our friendliest bird -- had her pinned against some fencing. The little hen's wing had caught in the fence as she tried to escape and the EE was trying to peck her to death, and the serama looked resigned to this outcome. We rushed out to rescue her, cleaned and tended her wounds: She was quite bloody but it all seemed superficial. We've separated her into her small yard/coop again.
I never would have chosen such a small bird to join our flock, but of course, this wasn't my choice. However, when presented a challenge such as this little orphaned bird I usually try to make things work. Here are my questions for more seasoned chicken owners:
Is this the inevitable outcome of introducing a single small bird to a well-established flock of large birds? Should we take this as a sign the serama could never be accepted by our girls because of the size difference? Does a hen - our usually-friendly barred rock EE - who has attacked another smaller bird in this manner become a repeat offender, ie. would any further efforts to bring the serama out only result in more violence? I know this is just the way chickens are, but I certainly don't want to subject the serama to further injury and fear. I'd just like to do right by her at this point.
