Flock of 3 hens - is it going to work?

[VlkStinu]

Hi everyone! I rescued 5 hens from an industrial poultry house about 3 weeks ago. They later evolved into 3 submissive hens and 2 dominant alpha females, which seemed like a nicely balanced hierarchy. Sadly, 2 of them died recently - one dominant alpha and the other submissive one. The current state of the flock is two equally submissive hens that stick together and the strongest of the flock - the alpha female, that is bossing them around (I actually named her Mrs. Boss).

So this left me wondering, whether a flock of 3 hens of this hierarchy can happily function in terms of all the social needs or whether it would be better to get additional 2 hens now (while the flock is still fresh) to strengthen the flock and make it maybe more socially diverse?

One possibility that I was wondering about was hatching eggs in the spring - the breed of the hens is either Lohman, Isabrown or Dominant (I was thinking Isabrown, but I could be wrong), they are not fully feathered yet to determine that. Are these breeds known to go broody or they are similar to Leghorn and almost never go broody? If they would, I could try and give them some fertilized eggs and boost the flock this way in spring. But maybe this would be very difficult or nearly impossible to do?

 

[sourland]

3 constitutes a viable flock. Most breeds used in production houses have been selected for egg laying and generally do not go broody, but there are exceptions to the rule. Well done on giving them a 'real' life.

 

[KarynVA]

I have had a flock of 3 for the entire summer; one is dominant. They are working out just fine. Best wishes and thanks for caring for chickens!

 

[Rooapalooza]

Why don't they have their feathers? Are they really young?

Three is fine for a flock but if I were you I would get two more. It's nice to have some backups in case something happens. I wouldn't count on any going broody, although it is possible.

For a very small flock, 4-6 chickens is ideal, IMO.

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

yes that’ll work, that’s great that u chose to rescue

 

[kelzey]

sounds like my flock right now! my top girl is the bossiest thing alive, she eats all the food and will not let the other two eat until she has what she wants. she’s even gonna be the first to start laying because i realized that she has been squatting whenever i go to pet her. i love watching them, where they stand in the pecking order is so evident and it all works a certain way. but my three girls seem happy! i do plan on adding though, i have a fairly big coop and plenty of space haha. this is my bossy girl- quite embarrassing but we have gotten into calling her gobble guts just because of her personality. but in my opinion it would work

 

[sourland]

Why don't they have their feathers? Are they really young?

Rescue birds from production houses are generally severely feather pecked/plucked.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Why don't they have their feathers? Are they really young?

Spent hens are generally available at the end of their laying cycle and are often molting. Probably nothing more sinister than a molt. Once they get over the molt, you should have some really nice egg laying hens.

So this left me wondering, whether a flock of 3 hens of this hierarchy can happily function in terms of all the social needs or whether it would be better to get additional 2 hens now

You are in the Czech Republic so north of the equator. Thanks for including that information. Personally I'd wait. Those three are setting up a new pecking order. As long as they are not injuring each other that is going well. Adding more chickens is going to extend and probably disrupt that process. You are probably not that far away from the snows and cold winds of winter, which can limit how much room they have to make integration easier. That's my main concern but I don't know how much room you actually have for them. I'd suggest you wait until the weather is better next spring to add more so you have more available room to work with. How valid that is depends on what your facilities look like.

Are these breeds known to go broody

No. Those are not actually breeds, they are commercial laying hybrids. Anything can happen, even with leghorns, but I would really be surprised if any of them went broody. They are bred to not go broody.

 

[VlkStinu]

Thank you all for your opinions and kind words, I truly appreciate it!
I watched them go about their business today and I feel like the hierarchy as of now is out of balance, which makes sense considering they lost two members of their flock very recently. The other dominant alpha female seemed to have been keeping Mrs. Boss in check, but since she is gone, Mrs. Boss is really BOSSY.

There is a last-minute chance to rescue hens from another industrial poultry house north of the capital city and I decided to go there tomorrow. I just feel like now is the best chance to add new members (because of the current disbalance caused by the sudden change) and that two additional birds will balance the flock. And either there will be buddies or buddy for the two submissive hens so they can bond and resist better against Mrs. Boss or it will bring a new more dominant female that will "flatten the curve" of Mrs. Boss bossiness.

 

[VlkStinu]

Rescue birds from production houses are generally severely feather pecked/plucked.

Yes, that is why. They were kept in the worse imaginable conditions and so the feathers were plucked and no doubt lost due to stress. I saw images of other rescued hens from different places and they looked FAR better.