I have finally admitted (with folk's help) that my GLW is a Roo.... I have two GLW's and a Bl. Austrolorp. The very kind gal I got them from has offered to trade out. All 3 of my hens are 15 weeks. I am hoping I can get something of the same age/coloration. What ever advice you can offer to ease this transition would be great. Many thanks, Jay
You should be fine. We do it all the time. Put the new girl in the coop at night and in the morning there will surely be a bit of pecking to establish order, but things should flow smoothly from there. It's not necessary to get the same breed or color... Really, though, you should get two more so at least they will have each other if the other 3 do decide to keep the one as an outsider. What's one more, right???
Same size, more or less, may be the most important factor. There are two methods I keep reading about on here. One, place on roost after dark and hope by morning they think she was already one of them. Two, add while "free ranging" -- if you have a back yard or similar, that has places they can hide from each other, this is good, and offer some distracting treat when you add the new bird. It's also best if they have a few weeks of being fenced off from one another but able to see/hear each other first, but many don't have anything available for this. Mainly, supervise and be ready to remove the new one if the attacks are vicious and draw blood -- if they just peck and squabble without injury, grin and bear it. Some vow that a sprinkle of vinegar on the new bird hides the strange smell, others say this is an old wive's tale.
All you can do is try it. If you free range the newbie can run away if their pecking on her it just takes time.
I like putting the newcomer on the roost after dark. It's generally a smooth transition. I provide a separator in the coop so if they need a timeout come sunrise its there.
I always separate my newcomers, but they can still see everyone. When I put them together i do it in the run for a few hours so they can escape from everyone and then its free ranging time after a few weeks of doing this it is one big happy order with alot of order being inforced. LOL, my leghorns think they are all that and a bag of chips, and some dip.
