Introducing 2 ladies

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kmlnll

kmlnll

In the Brooder
6 Years
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So I have my own flock. 3 adults, just put 3 teens in, and 2 babies. One of my adult hens previously killed babies and young teens. She thinks she's queen. She kinda picks on my teens too. (Babies are inside still but I want to move them out.)

My mom is wanting to start her own flock. She just got a hen and she was really beaten up by her last flock. She was under weight and missing feathers. She's doing tons better now, but she's super lonely.

I was wondering if I could give her my hen that thinks she's queen. I don't like how aggressive she is with babies since I have so many. But I don't want my moms hen to be picked on. I was thinking with it being a new place and the hen was already there, she may not be so aggressive.

Am I crazy for thinking it could work?

Another question about it is my dogs killed a few chickens last summer because I let everyone free roam in the backyard. So this summer when I'm outside I've let everyone hang out and it's going great (with my supervision of course). I'm wondering if it might just be going great cause queen hen is protective... Thoughts?
 
Thanks. I've actually been a member for the last yr. I'm just not on here often.
 
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You can introduce the two birds, but you will need to do it slowly over several weeks time. Keep the new bird in a cage or fenced area in the coop or run but always around this other bird. They both see, nobody touches. Leave the new bird in the cage for about 3 weeks. Then you can mix them together. Of course keep a watchful eye on them that day and the rest of that week. It should go fairly smooth. But if the more aggressive hen hurts or causes blood to shed on the other, always intervene and separate the new hen out.

Good luck and keep us posted!
 
Hello :frow and Welcome To BYC! TwoCrows X2 you need to introduce new birds very slowly, and the new ones should be about the same size as the old ones. If you have a very aggressive bird you might also consider putting pinless peepers or something similar on her, it seems to help bring them down a few pegs. Nice Learning Center article on adding birds to your flock https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/adding-to-your-flock
With your dogs, if they were killing birds during play a very aggressive bird may make the "play" not as attractive, but if it comes down to dog vs chicken, the dog is going to win, so do not count on the hen as a permanent solution.
Nice thread on teaching your dogs around chickens https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/829562/training-teaching-a-dog-about-chickens
 
Alright
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I would suggest a hen that kills teens and chicks, needs to go to freezer camp. She never should have been given a chance to be around others, after she killed the first one. Dog + chickens= dead chickens. Can you run faster than your dog? If you are supervising him amongst chickens - you are not going to win. He needs to NEVER be loose around chickens.

I'm sorry to sound harsh but, I have been answering new members for years and inevitably they write complaining about their own dog killing the entire flock. Then they buy more birds assuming it won't happen again. History repeats itself over and over. Same with aggressive roosters and hens. Too many good birds available to be "stuck" with problem ones. There is never a good reason to keep an Bad bird.
 
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