Introducing a new chicken

[jvane7]

Last week during our normal free range time for the girls, our neighbors dog came on to the property and snatched my White Cochin. They were nice enough to give us money to purchase an older pullet so we went and picked up a 5 month old Barred Rock on Saturday. My other three, a Silver Laced Wyandotte, a Buff Minorca, and a Rhode Island, all about 9 months old are not letting her out of the coop and into the fenced portion. Every time she emerges the Wyandotte chases her and pecks her back until she returns to the coop. The coop is about 2feet by 6 feet with two nesting boxes at each end and it seems like she sleeps at one end and the other three sleep at the other end, but the other day I caught the Wyandotte laying an egg right next to the new chicken. The wyandotte is the only one laying right now since I don't add any light.

Any ideas how long it will take for them all to be friends? Should I feed her in the coop separate from the other girls or force her out when she is hungry? Any ideas on what I can do to help or just let nature take it's course?

 

[mortie]

Sorry about your loss, congrats on the new addition.

There is a search bar at the top of the page you can use to find lots and lots of threads on almost every topic imaginable.

Here are some results for how to introduce a chicken to an established flock

https://www.backyardchickens.com/newsearch?search=introducing+chickens+to+a+flock