How long till they accept her?

[musikfan]

Please define "a while".

It's usually recommended to have the see-don't-touch period last for roughly a week before releasing the birds to mingle.

I have often read that when introducing a single bird that, after a time, you add one, docile bird from the middle of your pecking order to her see-don't-touch area so that they can bond and then, when they're released into the flock, the newbie has a buddy.

You'll probably think I'm horrible but my " a while" was about 2 hours. I just don't have the space to keep that poor bird cooped up on a tiny crate for a whole week, and my run is not really large enough or set up to separate them. I realize that the look don't touch period is significant. But I'm keeping an eye on her and the others. If I see any serious issues, I would just remove her altogether and figure something out. Trust me, I don't want to see her get hurt in any way. So far she is doing fine - just being shunned. I check on her every couple hours or so.

 

[3KillerBs]

You'll probably think I'm horrible but my " a while" was about 2 hours. I just don't have the space to keep that poor bird cooped up on a tiny crate for a whole week, and my run is not really large enough or set up to separate them. I realize that the look don't touch period is significant. But I'm keeping an eye on her and the others. If I see any serious issues, I would just remove her altogether and figure something out. Trust me, I don't want to see her get hurt in any way. So far she is doing fine - just being shunned. I check on her every couple hours or so.

How big, in feet or meters, is your coop and your run.

If you don't have enough space for a see-don't-touch setup then you maybe short on space overall and might have serious problems doing integration.

 

[musikfan]

How big, in feet or meters, is your coop and your run.

If you don't have enough space for a see-don't-touch setup then you maybe short on space overall and might have serious problems doing integration.

Run is roughly a 4 by 10 section along with an adjacent 5 by 8 section. You may be right and I may have to consider leaving things as they were. We'll see...

 

[3KillerBs]

Run is roughly a 4 by 10 section along with an adjacent 5 by 8 section. You may be right and I may have to consider leaving things as they were. We'll see...

That's 4 chickens total?

4x10 is enough run for 4 chickens. 5x8 is enough run for 4 more chickens so it *should* be good. However long, narrow shapes are difficult because it's part of good chicken manners for subordinate birds to pass dominant birds at a respectful distance.

 

[musikfan]

Hey Folks! Just wanted to give an update. Penny has finally been more or less accepted into the flock. They are treating her much more civil than at first. She is now able to be in the run with them. My Barred Rock (Prissy) does not even make any attempts to shoosh her off. The others are fine with her as long as she isn't right beside them. If she gets too close, they just run at her but do not attempt to peck her - at least from what I can see. Penny is also getting more brave and bold. She's turned out to be a real sweetheart. I didn't even have her three days and she let me pet and rub her back when she was in the coop, and she would eat out of my hand. However, she seems less interested in me now that she can fend for herself. She's eating and drinking and doing fine. Now we just wait for that first egg. However, I'm not sure when she'll start laying, and there are the other chickens laying as well, so I have no idea which eggs would be hers. She's a Delaware, so maybe her eggs are a different color??? The others are pretty much light to medium brown. All is well!