Idaho?

[BandofBantams]

Hey fellow chicken lovers! I am excited to see a thread of Idaho chickens. I live in Caldwell & started my chicken project this June while I was bored & had a flashback to my childhood hobby of chickens & ducks. I currently have 1 White Silkie rooster (Sir Lawrence), 2 Buff Orpingtons ( Mabel & Ginger), 2 Silver Laced Wyandottes (Freckles & Winnie). Flock #2 is 1 Red frizzle (Hailey), 1 Splash Frizzle (Smoke), 1 Black Frizzle (Izzy) & 1 Bantam Americana/Cochin (Rose). The chickens are all wonderful, Sir Lawrence valiantly defends his girls w/ his wing circle chicken dance from any perceived threat & the ladies are spoiled little beauty's. My problem is trying to combine the two flocks. Hailey was raised since she was a chick w/ Sir Lawrence & the girls but she was injured so we had her in the house while she rehabbed, dog attack that she lost lots of feathers & could barely walk. She made a full recovery! But the hens won't accept her. They jump on her & pull feathers & Hailey runs back to our garage. So, we bought the other 3 bantams so she would have friends but no luck integrating the two flocks. Any suggestions? I've tried putting them together & supervise but some kind of meanness just comes out w/ the bigger girls.

 

[pawtraitart]

Hey fellow chicken lovers! I am excited to see a thread of Idaho chickens. I live in Caldwell & started my chicken project this June while I was bored & had a flashback to my childhood hobby of chickens & ducks. I currently have 1 White Silkie rooster (Sir Lawrence), 2 Buff Orpingtons ( Mabel & Ginger), 2 Silver Laced Wyandottes (Freckles & Winnie). Flock #2 is 1 Red frizzle (Hailey), 1 Splash Frizzle (Smoke), 1 Black Frizzle (Izzy) & 1 Bantam Americana/Cochin (Rose). The chickens are all wonderful, Sir Lawrence valiantly defends his girls w/ his wing circle chicken dance from any perceived threat & the ladies are spoiled little beauty's. My problem is trying to combine the two flocks. Hailey was raised since she was a chick w/ Sir Lawrence & the girls but she was injured so we had her in the house while she rehabbed, dog attack that she lost lots of feathers & could barely walk. She made a full recovery! But the hens won't accept her. They jump on her & pull feathers & Hailey runs back to our garage. So, we bought the other 3 bantams so she would have friends but no luck integrating the two flocks. Any suggestions? I've tried putting them together & supervise but some kind of meanness just comes out w/ the bigger girls.

Welcome!! How big is your coop? Is it a walk-in or box style? What I like to do is put the older hens in a different area for a week while the new birds get full run of the coop. That tends to break up the territorial mania mature hens go through when newbies arrive. When you add your territorial hens back in, there will be some bickering but it shouldn't be severe or last very long.

 

[BandofBantams]

The coop is 4 x 8 w/ an attached run of 8 x 12 but they free range most of the day. I've tried everything & have almost resigned myself to buying another coop. I will try moving the 4 big girls out for a couple days & then reintroducing them. I just want everyone to get along & get out of my garage. Lol! Hailey really prefers living in the house & would come right in the dog door if I didn't block it off. My Shitzpoo & her have a strange love attraction.

 

[mbleily]

The coop is 4 x 8 w/ an attached run of 8 x 12 but they free range most of the day. I've tried everything & have almost resigned myself to buying another coop. I will try moving the 4 big girls out for a couple days & then reintroducing them. I just want everyone to get along & get out of my garage. Lol! Hailey really prefers living in the house & would come right in the dog door if I didn't block it off. My Shitzpoo & her have a strange love attraction.

I have had luck by penning them where they could see each other for a week or so but not being able to get to each other. They see and learn to recognise each other and then they are not so likely to jump on each other. It is hard but everyone has to have a place in the order. I go in at nite to see if they are all on the roost and I see my thee favorite hens on the bottom shelve. LOL The top rung has so many on there they are almost pushing each other off. The others seem to know where they belong and fill the rung accordingly. The life of a chicken is interesting if nothing else.

 

[Daloorashens]

Welcome Bandofbantams!! We have a buff orpington that my boys named Maple, I guess it goes with being a big fluffy yellow chicken or something... they love her and she is very gentle, so she'll stay till she dies, I'm sure!!

In the past I have also done what pawtraitart suggests... take the dominant hens out of the "main coop" and let the subordinate hens take over for a while... then when you put the others back in, the pecking order has been messed up, so they're not usually quite as mean to each other...

 

[Daloorashens]

Made a page of the water heaters DH helped me make to keep the water from freezing in the waterers, they have been working like a charm!!

the link is in my siggy below...

 

[pawtraitart]

Nice!

 

[Daloorashens]

 

[ROLOIdaho]

Anyone else have any eggs in the incubator yet? I have a batch of 45 Blue Copper/Black Copper and White Marans eggs that are due to hatch on or around the 30th. I'm excited!! Here are a couple of pics of some of the parents.

 

[Duramaxgirl]

Yep! I have 92 in my bator. Mostly leghorns and some BLRW. The hatching season has begun!!