How do I introduce new hen?

[river1rapid]

My flock was 4 Barred rock roosters & 21 RIR hens. Today I swapped 2 of the roosters for 2 barred rock hens. I am concerned about introduction.. how???

 

[PeepersMama]

ALWAYS quarantine new birds before adding them to an established flock. 2 weeks is the bare minimum, but the longer the better. I got a lavender cuckoo orpington for my birthday this year. She was quarantined for 2 weeks, but not it wasn't long enough. About a month after she got let out, she died, and we had to cull half the flock. I would hate for anyone else to go through the same thing.

AFTER quarantine,

Put them in a wire kennel or enclosure were they can see the other birds for about a week. This way they can get to know the rest of the flock without getting hurt. If you free-range your birds, then they don't need to be kept seperate for quite as long (3-5 days), because they can run away if they get attacked. When it comes time to turn them loose, put them on the roost after dark, when the other chickens have ended WWIII

Make sure that you put them out when it is dark enough that the other girls can't see, or they will get tortured.
Good luck with your new girls!

 

[azygous]

First, be aware that even with quarantine, you may be importing serious disease into your flock, such as lymphotic leucosis which is similar to Marek's and has no vaccination or cure. Chickens can carry this virus and be asymptomatic, thus quarantine won't ferret it out.

The best thing is to question the source of these new hens and find out if there has been any history of unexplained deaths. Most chickens are resistant to many of these diseases, but can still pass them on to a new flock. You may want to turn down these chickens if you find out there have been mysterious deaths where they came from.

That said, I introduced a rescued hen to my flock last year, and I wrote about it for BYC how it went. You might be interested in reading how I went about integrating her. Photos included! It's linked below this post.

 

[river1rapid]

Link please.

 

[river1rapid]

This is what I have to work with. For now the flock is free range during the day & coop at night. The new hens are in the cage part closed in (I did put up a roost & box to get them out of the wind if needed.) And the flock roosts in the house part.

Since the roosters were always BR, the color thing shouldn't be much of an issue right? (Funny how all the RIR turned out hens & the BR all roo's)

 

[azygous]

ttp://www.backyardchickens.com/a/introducing-a-single-hen-to-an-existing-flock