introduced new hen and my current hen went nuts! please help

[sadiepoo]

Good morning. Im new to the chix world so learning as i go. I started out with just 2. and raised them from a week old. they are a RiR and cukoo muran. Well to our demise the RIR was taken last week by a hawk last week. So we needed to get her a new companion I was told because chix need companions I thought. Well we purchased a same age Americauna breed (16 weeks) from same breeder. Well Babbs my Cukko same age, went nuts and jumped on her and was highly mad! My husband has since seperated them but i feel terrible because the new chix is in the coop and we have small run ( A frame coop). Babbs is now in a large dog cage right beside her but i know was upset because she wanted back in her coop so bad she paced and paced and i feel so bad! Please help

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.

Aww! I'm sorry for your loss and now this stressful introducing.

You should keep them separate but able to see each other. Do this for about 2 weeks or more. Then let them mix.

Good luck and welcome!

 

[BayBay Peepers]

Welcome to BYC!

x2 with Mountain Peeps, just keep them separate for a while and slowly integrate them. It will eventually settle down.

Sorry about your loss, it's never easy.

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

X3 New birds need to be introduced slowly. You can't just throw new birds in together. There is a pecking order and it needs to be adhered to by each bird. So keep the new bird/birds in a cage but within the flock for about 3 weeks. Everybody sees, nobody touches. After this length of time, you can let the newbies out. Make sure you add extra water and feed stations so the new bird or birds don't have to compete and the old flock can defend the food and water. There will probably be some chasing, but it shouldn't be too brutal. Over time, the new bird or birds will be excepted. Always intervene if it turns bloody.

Here is a nice article from our learning center on integrating new birds into a flock...https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/adding-to-your-flock

Good luck and if you have any further questions, feel free to ask. Welcome to our flock!

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! X3, you need to introduce chickens to each other slowly, a long period of seeing but no touching through wire seem to work best, ie dividing the coop into two sections or keeping the new/younger ones in a cage inside the coup for a couple of weeks to a month at least. The chickens will get to know each other and sort of work out a pecking order before actually coming in contact with each other. Letting them free range together is a good idea and should help... It will take a couple of weeks to get the pecking order sorted out. There is a nice article in the Learning Center on integrating flocks you might like to check out, the part about actually combining them is after the quarantine section https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/adding-to-your-flock

 

[sadiepoo]

ok. Im trying to post a pic of coop and having troubles?

 

[sadiepoo]

so right now the new chix americauna is in coop and babbs the old chix is in dog pen beside the coop and needless to say i think very upset especially when it was her time to go to bed. she was very restless.

 

[BayBay Peepers]

Another thing you could try after a while is integrating them at night. After a while of seeing and no touching and then free ranging just wait until it's dark and plop Babbs in the coop. 9 times out of 10 this has worked for me.

 

[cstronks]

You always want to do your homework before integrating birds. It is a long process that should be supervised carefully to avoid injury and or death. The suggestions above are correct, but always ask questions and read up before doing something with your chickens. Certainly separation is a big part, and it is best that they see each other for at least a week before any type of integration is made. Putting them together at night can also help. I know that there is some success with that method. The bottom line is that there needs to be plenty of time for your maran to adapt to the change and accept that ameraucana.

 

[sadiepoo]

thanks for all your wonderful suggestions. Right now the original chicken is in the large dog wired cauge with her own food and water. But I feel like I ran her out of her coxy home! The new chix is in the coop because I thought she needs to be "cooped" in their a while to understand where her new home is. when babbs would free range she just roams the yard but never a few feet from her coop. I didnt think i could do that with the new chix because she might take off?