Introducing a new chicken

[madisonjh95]

It is sort of a long story but today I traded my rooster (that was supposed to be a hen) for a year old barred rock hen. I currently have a 19 week old Wyandotte pullet and a 3 week old Rhode Island Red chick. My Wyandotte is being so mean to the new barred rock and the barred rock is not fighting back! How should I go about introducing the two further? Should I leave them in the coop together tonight? What would you do?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

You may find this helpful.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/introducing-a-single-hen-to-an-existing-flock

Do you have the chick housed separately? The Wyandotte may settle down after a few days, but caging the BR until she is acclimated would be best. Also check her well for lice and mites.

Was the owner of the Barred Rock in desperate need of a cockerel? I'm a bit interested in who would trade a year old laying hen for a boy.

 

[madisonjh95]

You may find this helpful.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/introducing-a-single-hen-to-an-existing-flock

Do you have the chick housed separately? The Wyandotte may settle down after a few days, but caging the BR until she is acclimated would be best. Also check her well for lice and mites.

Was the owner of the Barred Rock in desperate need of a cockerel? I'm a bit interested in who would trade a year old laying hen for a boy.

The chick in in a box in the shed. What do you mean by caging the BR? Like in the run but where the Wyandotte can’t get her? Or in a separate area entirely? And the guy had a rooster I guess and it ran off or got eaten by a predator so he was looking for a new one to replace it and had plenty of hens to spare! This BR has some scars on the back of her head so I wonder if she was getting bullied there too.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

The chick in in a box in the shed. What do you mean by caging the BR? Like in the run but where the Wyandotte can’t get her? Or in a separate area entirely? And the guy had a rooster I guess and it ran off or got eaten by a predator so he was looking for a new one to replace it and had plenty of hens to spare! This BR has some scars on the back of her head so I wonder if she was getting bullied there too.

The link provided earlier explains how to introduce a single hen, perhaps you missed it, so I will re-post it. Yes. Cage her where the Wyandotte can see her but not get to her - you brought a stranger onto her turf. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/introducing-a-single-hen-to-an-existing-flock.71997/

If the BR was in a flock with a rooster, then likely the scars on the back of the head were from mating - does it look like feathers had been pulled out there?

 

[CJClucks]

I think introducing a single chicken could mean more picking on the new gal. I put my new chickens in a dog crate (with their own water & food) during the day so they could all investigate each other without getting into a big fight. Then at night after my chickens were roosting I placed the caged chickens on a roost in the same coop. Before dawn I came out & moved the new chickens back into the crate. I continued that routine for 3 nights & then let them all out to free range together. They had minor pecking here & there but had pretty much already determined who was in charge through the dog crate. Note: I got my two new chickens from a good friend whom I knew had a healthy flock & was integrating them into my small three hen flock so I didn’t quarantine.

 

[madisonjh95]

Update: So since I only had one other chicken, a pullet who is much smaller than the new chicken (but admittedly much feistier) and no extra money for a $60 dog crate I just threw her in and hoped for the best! The first two days were pretty hard for Patty (the BR) as Melania (the wyandotte; in my pic) was a huge jerk. Patty pretty much lived hiding her head under the hanging waterer. But yesterday they were dustbathing together and sharing bugs on a bush and she even laid two eggs this weekend. I found them this morning snuggling on the same roost and Patty even gave Melania a little taste of her own medicine! The only thing I worry about now is me and Melania used to be pals and now I think she's mad at me or something cause she doesn't wanna hang out.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Glad it all worked out for you.

 

[123RedBeard]

Birds of a feather ... flock together ... you don' have any feathers do you?

Chickens are flock critters ... they prefer others of their own "kind" ... you were a substitute, better than nothing, but you are not a bird ... they will get along fine now ... just remember, and think about how your gonna get the little one in with the bigger two in a month or two ...

 

[madisonjh95]

Birds of a feather ... flock together ... you don' have any feathers do you?

Chickens are flock critters ... they prefer others of their own "kind" ... you were a substitute, better than nothing, but you are not a bird ... they will get along fine now ... just remember, and think about how your gonna get the little one in with the bigger two in a month or two ...

Haha I know you speak the truth I just hate to hear it! I have been taking the little one out a little bit with the big ones each day since we got her. They will still peck at her if she gets to close but they’re starting to just ignore her now. Her little box is see-through and sits right next to the run so they pretty much see her all day without any contact.