Find chickens/integrating

[Fireman686]

Good afternoon,
we lost a hen a few weeks ago and now we are down one cinnamon queen. She is 4 years old and we don’t want her to be alone. I want to find 2 more hens to keep her company. Below is the 2 part question.

1. does anyone know of a reputable breeder in the Tampa Florida area? NPIP would be nice.

2. What is the best way to integrate new birds? I have read that the new birds need to be isolated for a month before ANY interactions. My yard is not big enough for isolation so I have also read that the new hens can be either kept in a garage or shed?? I just want the best for my chickens so any advice would be awesome. I have never integrated new hens before so I want to do it correctly

Thank you.

 

[rosemarythyme]

The one month separation is for biological quarantine. In your case, with just the 1 remaining hen and a small yard, I'd skip the quarantine and take the risk that the new birds aren't carriers of something.

You still need to keep the birds separate during introduction period, by having them be able to see each other but unable to interact - dividing off part of the run or using something like a large wire crate can work for that. Once they start getting used to each others presence, you can try giving them some time together with supervision and see how it goes.