Introducing new chickens to single old hen

[Floopy Buzzlesworth]

Hello! So, very sadly, this morning I had to say good bye to one of my two hens. I'd been planning for a while to add to the flock before I end up being left with one, but well... other stuff took over, so here we are.

I've now been reading up on introducing new chickens, and it seems like it's quite difficult to introduce single chickens to a flock. So I'm wondering, would it be easiest to get one new hen, make sure the two of them get on, then get a couple more? Any advice would be massively appreciated!

(Also, if anyone on here happens to know of anyone near Edinburgh, Scotland, that's got some hens going, that'd be great, too...)

Thanks in advance!

 

[driver]

This year I introduced 5 young pullets to an old hen, and it went relatively smoothly. It may have helped that I built a new coop so it was no one's "turf". I put the young ones in it at about 7 weeks old, and had supervised visits with the 6 year old hen. She scared them, and they stayed out of her way. I had them all living together in a week or two. There was not any fighting, just the old hen making mean faces or charging at the young ones, and the young ones running away. They also gave her a lot of space to herself on the roosts at night. The young ones will be 26 weeks old this week.

 

[Floopy Buzzlesworth]

Thanks, yes, I'm planning to move my chicken run before the new arrivals, so it's new turf for everyone, nice to know that might actually help. My old lady always used to be at the bottom of the pile, so I'm actually a bit more worried about her being bullied, but who knows what they'll get up to??

 

[aart]

Welcome to BYC!

It's tricky, but can be done.
Hard to say if one bird or a few would be better,
might depend on your space(more is always better, especially for integrations),
and your goals.

It would be good to put your location in your profile,
easy to do and then it's always there!
There is one or two members here from Scotland, I think.
Also think there is a chat thread for the UK,
tho link is broken at the moment and I'm not sure how active it is anyway.

@sumi is over there somewhere(Ireland I think)maybe she can help?

 

[sumi]

@Yorkshire Coop is in England, if that helps any.

I added 2 hens to a single once, no problems. Kept the new ones in a cage in her coop for a bit first and she wanted in there with them. Very happy with the company. Different chickens may behave different though.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

@Floopy Buzzlesworth

Sorry to hear you lost your hen I too would advise keeping them seperate for a little while as Sumi did with her. For me adding a couple to an existing hen should not be too much of a problem.

Have you tried these for new ones ~ https://www.edinburghchickens.com/

 

[Floopy Buzzlesworth]

@Floopy Buzzlesworth

Sorry to hear you lost your hen I too would advise keeping them seperate for a little while as Sumi did with her. For me adding a couple to an existing hen should not be too much of a problem.

Have you tried these for new ones ~ https://www.edinburghchickens.com/

Thank you! I have some ambitious plans for a new run set up, so at least space shouldn't be a problem. Edinburgh Chickens were the first ones I checked out, but unfortunately they're out until February. I've found some up in Cupar, but that's a bit of a trip (without a car), but I'll keep at it.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Have you tried preloved, freeads etc? Or you could go down the rescue option of ex commercial hens.

 

[Floopy Buzzlesworth]

Have you tried preloved, freeads etc? Or you could go down the rescue option of ex commercial hens.

Aye, did look into that, too. But again, there are waiting lists and rehoming seems to be mostly for cockerels. I'll keep looking, though!

 

[aart]

I have some ambitious plans for a new run set up, so at least space shouldn't be a problem.

Might want to wait until you have your new coop done before even looking more birds.
What's the timeline for the new build?
Might be chicks available by the time you have it done(it always takes way longer than we plan). When you build, design in a way to split the coop and run so integration will be easier to manage.