I have only 1 "bird of a feather" will she be Ok?

[SportChick]

I have 4 barred rocks who are about 17 weeks old and 2 black copper marans (1 hen and 1 rooster) who are about 13 weeks old. I need to re-home my rooster pretty soon but am concerned that she will be left alone. The bigger chickens are still learning to tolerate the little ones but when they little ones are full size will they they let the BCM hen in their club? I could maybe get 1 more, but that is the most I could have in my coop (and in my inner-city yard).

Any suggestions? Does she need to have a friend or will it probably all work out with more time?

 

[math ace]

EVENTUALLY, they will let her join the club. HOWEVER, don't be surprise if this doesn't happen until she is of laying age - - - - There is something about having to share the nesting boxes that unites the women folk !

 

[TajMahalChickens]

Not sure what your setup is, here is something that worked for me:

I was incorporating new bantams in to my 4 week old flock. I sectioned off a section of the brooder with chicken wire, then put the banties in that section. They could see each other chicks, but the other chicks couldn't peck or trample the fragile banties. When I moved the older chicks out of the brooder, I put the banties is a wire dog crate inside the chicken coop. Again, they could see each other and be in each other's presence, but they could not peck. That would work for your maran, so that she still gets to see other chickens and feel like she is a part of the flock.

It also helps get the 17 week-olds get used to her presence. When you let finally the maran free in the coop, the barred rocks won't peck her as much because she's nothing new; she's been with the flock for a several weeks in the crate.

When you finally do introduce her to the rest of the flock, do it in the biggest area possible. For me, that is my run, but if you are in the city you might have a bigger coop than run. Let her out with the barred rocks for supervised sessions at first, then let her out for the day and put her back at night, then finally let her sleep on the perch.

Hope this helps! Let me know how it goes!

 

[donnavee]

EVENTUALLY, they will let her join the club. HOWEVER, don't be surprise if this doesn't happen until she is of laying age - - - - There is something about having to share the nesting boxes that unites the women folk !

I agree with that. We have seven 1 1/2 yr old hens and five 23wk old pullets. Even though they were introduced very gradually in a large space and there was not too much pecking, they continued to stay in their own groups. As some of the pullets are starting to lay now, I'm noticing the 2 groups are beginning to "hang out" together now. Good luck and be sure to keep a close eye on the lone chicken when you do put them together. Hens can get pretty mean, especially if they decide to gang up on another chicken.​

 

[SportChick]

Well, looks like we figured out a pretty good method because after letting them all free range under supervision for an hour or so several days a week, we put the 2 liitle ones in a dog crate (great minds think a like

) with an opening that the little ones could get through but was too small for the big ones and then after about a week the little ones went in to roost with the big ones on their own. They are always on one side of the roost and the Barred Rocks are all clumped together on the other side however. Now they are definitely bottom of the pecking order but they are allowed to eat and drink. The BCM's still stick together however so I will have to judge when is a good time to let my rooster move to his new home.