Introducing a new chicken...bad idea?

[chickalicious-farmer]

Our friends are moving out of state. They have a 3 year old hen, very sweet. She was raised alone without other chickens. I have 7 chickens about 12 weeks old. Should I take her? Can this work? I could try it out for a few days and see. What do you think?

 

[cajunlizz]

Quote:
YES , take her and put her in her OWN SAFE area , BUT close enough to be seen by other hens and she be allowed to view them . And gradually introduce them . I think it will work out just fine .


We have a full flock of about 35 chickens right now , ALL AGES , and varity of breeds . Hubby was given 10 batams and should be joining us next week . I will separate the new ones for awhile , BUT they will ALL be close by as I discribed above .

LOOKS like this will not be the last time hubby arrives with NEW STOCK to be added , just making sure they are all healthy before joining them together .

 

[ezbird]

You should, they usually go through the pecking order anyway. That happened with my new roo. It took a week for him to get settled in with the others. And friendly chickens are always a plus in my book.

 

[warren]

Do keep them separate for a while. Firstly to make sure that she does not have anything contagious, but also because she may attack the younger ones. My hen is nearly 3 but hates my two younger ones. I have to keep them separate even after two months. Things are improving slowly, but she still chases them around and pulls feathers out when I put them together. I would not leave them unsupervised until I thought it was safe.
You have the advantage that you will be introducing the older hen onto new ground, so it will work out easier. My problem was introducing two youngsters onto her territory. Hope it works out well.