Holding pen for new hens?

[Mattemma]

I responded to an ad to take in 4 buff o. hens that will be a year old in March. I have 3 hens in a shed already.I am wondering what could I put together to hold the hens until I can add them to the 3 in the shed.I was thinking of using a large dog crate/cage I have,and setting that up in the garage.Would that be a decent place for the girls till I can add them to my mini flock? What have you used?

Also,when the time comes to add them do I take the hens into the shed at night and put them on a perch,or should I just put them in the shed during the day while my other girls are out in the yard/run?

This is my first year with hens and first time taking in new hens.

Do I have to wait 30 days to add them to my flock? Is 2 weeks enough to see if they have any diseases?

 

[jwchicklady]

I have used a large dog crate and it has worked out fine. Is the shed large enough to eventually put the whole crate in it for a few days, so the chickens can get used to seeing each other, but not mixed together just yet. I just integrated 6 new chickens to my flock of 10--I put the new girls in the coop while the old girls were free ranging and then when the old girls came in, there was plenty of room in the coop/run for everyone to run around and do the pecking order thing. I have had them mixed together for about a week now and they are working things out pretty well. some pecking here and there, but not too bad. My most difficult addition to my flock was when i just had 1 hen to add. That poor hen got picked on to the point where i had to feed her separately for awhile. she ended up blending in fine when I brought the other new ones in.

4 weeks is the recommended quarantine time.

 

[Mattemma]

Thanks so much for the input. I have my shed packed with straw bails for the winter,so I can not fit the cage in there right now. If I don't get these hens I will definately put the cage in when I add the chicks in the summer that I plan to get.

Did you wait the full 30 days to add your new hens?

 

[pixie74943]

I read this as 'Holiday Pens' lol

Personally, I just grabbed the scraps I could find around the house and bashed something together.

it worked, although I took me forever to work out a watering system that didnt instantly turn into mud (the answer was to put it up on a couple of pavers and change it every day)

And I waited 30 days, was hard though..
It still took almost a month after that before I finally got them sleeping together though