How to introduce an new adult hen to another adult hen...

[Floyds26]

Hello Everyone. We have a small coop and had 2 laying hens...about 3 years old. We open the coop in the day and let them roam the yard, but they get locked back inside at night.

One of our two hens died a few days ago leaving Linda by herself. I am considering buying another adult hen so she has company (maybe 2), but not sure how to do it. We are fairly new to chickens. Linda is an Americana....her late coop-mate was a Rhode Island Red. I have reviewed the forum but didn't see much wrt to my situation...introducing 1-2 adults to an existing flock of 1 middle-aged hen.

Any guidance on the process to do this and breeds that would be most amenable to integration?

btw- I don't have an easy way to "separate" them within the coop....but could leave one outside the coop (in the enclosed run area) and one inside coop...but worry that wouldn't be ideal at night. We are in California so the weather and temp are fine....but worry about a predator. We have racoons, skunks...but they are a rare site in our suburban setting...but we lock them away at night just in case.

 

[NatJ]

You could just put them together and watch what happens. Sometimes it works.

If that does not work, the most reliable method is to have them live next to each other but separated for at least a week, and often longer. The idea is to let them interact through the divider (something like wire mesh), so they can get to know each other but cannot injure or chase each other.

We have a small coop and had 2 laying hens...about 3 years old. We open the coop in the day and let them roam the yard, but they get locked back inside at night.

If you shut the new hen in the coop & run, and let the older hen roam the yard like usual, that would probably work during the day. Shutting in the new hen will let her get comfortable in the coop & run, and also means she cannot try to go back to her old home and get lost.

btw- I don't have an easy way to "separate" them within the coop....but could leave one outside the coop (in the enclosed run area) and one inside coop...but worry that wouldn't be ideal at night. We are in California so the weather and temp are fine....but worry about a predator. We have racoons, skunks...but they are a rare site in our suburban setting...but we lock them away at night just in case.

Chickens often deal with newcomers by trying to chase them away. If there is plenty of space to get away, the new chickens will just hang around at a distance, and gradually work their way closer over many days or weeks. But when they are shut in a small space together, there can be problems because the one tries to chase and the other cannot get away. (It's not always the old ones that chase away the new ones-- sometimes the new ones chase the old ones instead.)

Putting them together in the coop at night is one of those things that might work right away or might not, because it depends on how these specific chickens act. That is something you won't know until you try it.

As a temporary measure, if there are no better options, you might bring one into your own house for the first few nights. You could put her in a dog crate or pet carrier, and take her back outside in the morning. This would keep her safe from outdoor predators, but do be careful of any dogs or cats you have in the house. If you bring one inside, I suggest bringing in the old hen, so the new one can get comfortable sleeping in the coop.

 

[Luv Ducks]

I have heard of people putting the new one in a dog crate inside the coop at night with the older one. The crate should not have wide enough bars that if the new one was to stick its neck out it could get pecked at.