Introducing 1 hen

[ChickenKiera]

Is it ok to introduce 1 alone hen to a group of 4 hens or would it be a bad idea?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

It is rarely good to introduce a single bird to any size flock. They are viewed as an outsider and a threat to the flock well being. A loner will likely be attacked to either drive them away or kill them.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Introducing like numbers and like sizes is best.
If you have more than one housing space, you can move 3 of your birds to the other housing and introduce one on one. AFTER a proper quarantine.
Then when the new bird and one original become friends, you can start moving the others back one at a time.

 

[Ridgerunner]

People on this forum do that all the time, often with no problems but it can be a disaster. To me, the two critical factors are the ages of the chickens and how much room do you have to work with. The more room the better.

If they are all mature it will go differently than if some are more mature than others. So what are their ages? What are the sizes in feet or meters of your facilities? How are they put together? Photos might help us understand.

If they are all mature they will sort out the pecking order. That might involve some skirmishing, it might go so smoothly you wonder what all the worry was. It could easily involve some chasing and running away, so room to run away is important.

If some are more mature than the others they know how the pecking order works. The immature is at the bottom. The more mature are likely to peck the immature if their personal space is violated. It usually doesn't take long for the immature to learn to avoid the older ones. Often that is enough. But sometimes you have a mature hen that is just a brute and will go out of her way to abuse the younger. There is some luck involved with that. When the younger matures enough to force her way into the pecking order she becomes part of the flock. With my pullets, that''s usually abut the time she starts to lay. Often that is very peaceful but may involve some skirmishing.

One issue with adding a single chicken is that they are social animals. That's not such a big deal if they are all adults, but if there is a maturity difference it can cause problems. They want to be with other chickens so personal space is more likely to be violated if you have only one. The interaction can be a little different if the single chicken is the more mature versus less mature.

There are several generic things you can do to help integration. Housing them across wire for a while so they get used to each other can help. Separate feeding and watering stations can allow them to all eat and drink without bullying. There are things you can do to improve the quality of the room you do have if it is tight. The more you can tell us about what you are working with the more likely we can tailor our responses to something that can help you.

 

[Mrs. K]

Yes, I think it will be a pretty hard introduction. If you have a small set up it could be much worse.

If you have a separate pen, a good trick is to pick a middle of the flock bird from your established flock. Put her and the new bird together, let them duke it out. It could be quite a dust up, but it just one bird on one bird. Wait till that settles and it might be a couple of weeks, then add the pair into the flock.

If you can do this while both groups are near each other, so much the better.

If you can't do this because you only have one pen, try this, lock your established flock outside of the coop and run, in your yard. If you don't let them out very often, they won't go far. If you do let them out often it won't be a big deal either. Then lock the new girl in the coop/run for the whole day. This will let her explore the area and find the hideouts without being chased for her life. Feed along the fence line for both groups.

Don't let the layers in till it is as late as possible. Do go down early the next morning and monitor. If they start fighting, let the big girls out again, locking the new one in. It might take a couple of days. If you have just one mean hen, lock her up in a dog crate and let the others work it out, them let her back in.

And another trick, is pin-less peepers. These work very well for people in small set ups. In fact, this might be the best way to go. Put the peepers on everyone, and add the new bird.

Good luck,

Mrs K

 

[ChickenKiera]

Sorry I haven’t replied or anything I have been really busy but those chicks are doing really well with the 4 hens and if my Nan gets 20 more 16 week old hens would that be ok as well? Would it be better because there are more of them and their coop/run is big enough for about 50 chickens

 

[Mrs. K]

chicks? I thought it was one hen.

More space, and more strange birds is better. There will be pecking, but it gets spread out over more birds. Being mean takes a bit of energy, and they wear out, so it doesn't last quite as long. A few hideouts, a few feed stations, and it sorts out rather quickly, in my experience.

MK

 

[ChickenKiera]

chicks? I thought it was one hen.

More space, and more strange birds is better. There will be pecking, but it gets spread out over more birds. Being mean takes a bit of energy, and they wear out, so it doesn't last quite as long. A few hideouts, a few feed stations, and it sorts out rather quickly, in my experience.

MK

OMG I’m so sorry, I got confused, before when I said 1 hen, we hadnt got her yet we was just seeing if her owner took her back (she escaped from her coop and we were willing to take her in but the owner wanted her back) and I was just seeing if it would be ok to have 1 new chicken before we would “get her”. And there were two other chicks I introduced to the hens (which are fine with each other now) which is what I was talking about in my last comment
Anyways, would it still be ok to have 20, 16 week old chicks to 6 chickens (4 which are adults and 2 which are about 12 weeks)
Sorry for the confusion

 

[aart]

Anyways, would it still be ok to have 20, 16 week old chicks to 6 chickens (4 which are adults and 2 which are about 12 weeks)

How much space do you have?
Dimensions and pics of coop and run would help here.

Also keep in mind:
Consider biological/medical quarantine:
BYC Medical Quarantine Article

Integration Basics:
It's all about territory and resources(space/food/water).
Existing birds will almost always attack new ones to defend their resources.
Understanding chicken behaviors is essential to integrating new birds into your flock.

Confine new birds within sight but physically segregated from older/existing birds for several weeks, so they can see and get used to each other but not physically interact.

In adjacent runs, spread scratch grains along the dividing mesh, best if mesh is just big enough for birds to stick their head thru, so they get used to eating together.

The more space, the better. Birds will peck to establish dominance, the pecked bird needs space to get away. As long as there's no copious blood drawn and/or new bird is not trapped/pinned down and beaten unmercilessly, let them work it out. Every time you interfere or remove new birds, they'll have to start the pecking order thing all over again.

Multiple feed/water stations. Dominance issues are most often carried out over sustenance, more stations lessens the frequency of that issue.

Places for the new birds to hide 'out of line of sight'(but not a dead end trap) and/or up and away from any bully birds. Roosts, pallets or boards leaned up against walls or up on concrete blocks, old chairs tables, branches, logs, stumps out in the run can really help. Lots of diversion and places to 'hide' instead of bare wide open run.


Good to 'clutter up' the run too:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/