Introducing new hen to the coop

[urbanjunglechick]

My issue is somewhat similar - I am trying to introduce a young hen in with 3 others. They all are in the same coop, and somehow work out separate sleeping arrangements at night, but the new one is not allowed to come down to the ground to eat or drink without being chased by the 2 aggressive Barred Rocks. It's been over a week now, and I thought they would work it out, but they haven't yet. Is it possible that they will NEVER get along? I'm worried the young one isn't getting enough to eat...

thanks in advance for any help.

 

[welasharon]

I had three polish and a cuckoo marans that had been raised together when I got them around 4 months old. I added (or tried to) three black sex link hens that were already laying. They nearly beat my polish to pieces. Rehomed them to a friend with a farm so they could free range and she had a tiny little bantam hen of some sort that was too tiny to free range. They were afraid the hawk would get her so I brought her home. When I went to introduce her they turned on her and one was horrible to her. She couldn't eat or drink either. I put a wire cage in the run and put her in there. She got out at night and roosted with them but come morning they would start on her again. It has been a few days and today I left her loose in there but had to put water and food up high for her. They won't let her on the ground at all. Hopefully they will get past that as well.

 

[atimme]

Nuggetsowner :

Jolyn - you and I did this in very similar ways! I put a portable dog crate -one that is welded wire sided so completely see through - next to the run during the day only for about a week. Then I moved it inside the run for day only for a while. After that time I put her to roost with the rest one night. They all woke up the next morning and acted like nothing was different. There was a little disturbance when pecking order was established. That is normal and will happen everytime you introduce a new chicken.

One thing I did want to add is that if you have a new chicken you should keep it separate from your flock for awhile untill you know that it is healthy. I am not exactly sure on how many days. I can't remember off the top of my head but you could search on this site. I know it is here somewhere!!

Exactly QUARANTINE! You never know and it can spare you a lot of heartbreak. Keep her separate for at least 4 weeks and then start worrying about introductions.​

 

[janespromos]

I just picked up a couple of Blue Star hens from a friend and chucked them in the yard with my 3 Bovans. Everyone was scratching feed quite happily together for about 30 minutes until each group figured out there were strangers in the yard. Sweet girls but not the brightest little things.

A lot of alarm squawking & some minor chasing, but my Bovans came POL with their beaks clipped so no harm done. All the hens are about the same age--young pullets hatched out this past Spring.

Last night the Bovans went into the coop while the Blues flew up on top. Got the Blues down & into the coop. Took a little while (and more alarm squawks) before everyone got settled into place for the night. Decided to leave them all together in the coop for the morning. So far, everyone's getting along. About to let them out & will see how it goes.

I'm going to be getting a couple of banties in the next few weeks and will try the cage intro. The funny thing is this is pretty much how you introduce different bee colonies to each other, too.

 

[empireman]

I just built a new coop and 5 days ago I put in 7 hens. Late tonight just before the sun went down - I added 4 more hens - all the same age by the way. The hens from last week started beating on the new ones. I waited in the pen until the sun went down and then put them all on the roost together. 3 hours into the darkness - I went and checked on them and they all seemed fine. Anyone know what I need to do tomorrow? Do you think I need to get up at sunrise to check on them? Do I need to separate them. I don't know how the first group can be that territorial just after 5 days. Do I need to worry about them killing each other? They are ALL hens. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks Pj

 

[goldenchic]

i have 2 gold partridge wyandottes gerty and daisy their 15months now,i get so much pleasure from my chickens i wanted to add to my flock, in may this year i bought 2 more chicks 8 weeks old, one a rir peggy and a feather booted bantam rosy within a week of buying them rosy, died leaving peggy on her own i had seperated these chicks as advised on here i fenced half the run off and made another coop to go in it, after studying i realised rosy died of cocci and must have had it when we got her, she kept peeping huddling & was fluffed up we just thought she was bigger than polly as being different breeds & we thought the peeping was cause she was missing the other chicks she'd been in with, when realising it was cocci i treated all the chickens just incase, but i was left with the dilemma of peggy being on her own, which i read was not good for her and i couldn't put her in with gerty & daisy they would have a go at her through the fence when she got too close,so i decided to get three more chicks 2 rir hetty & polly & 1 light sussex princess they seemed ok but peggy never really mixed with them like she did with rosy, seemed to keep her distance, all seemed to be going well gerty & daisy got used to seeing them through the fence and seem less interested so after 2 months they looked big enough to hold their own, i started free ranging them in the garden supervised so if daisy or gerty had a go i was their to stop them and their was enough room in the garden to get away from them,after a few days of doing this and they seemed okay we took the fence down but left the other coop so their would be no squabbling at bedtime, but found the four chicks were sneaking in the big girls coop once they were settled, but sadly 2 weeks later peggy died of cocci so treat all of them again with coxoid, all seemed fine then about a month after that hetty also died of cocci, i was at my wits end at this point i had visions of losing my entire flock, then about 2 weeks ago polly was looking fluffed up thought was gonna lose her so had to take drastic action as she wasn't drinking and coxoid was in the water, so we force fed her from a syringe to make sure she was getting it about four times a day, after two days she started to perk back up but kept them all on coxoid for another week i am hoping that is the end of it but got coxoid in the cupboard just incase, i thought once been treated they would be ok, but then read there are lots of different strains of cocci they may get immune to one strain but not another, i learnt the hard way introducing new chicks, and would really like to add to my flock as i only have four now instead of seven, i will have to be contented with what i've got couldn't face losing another one, my girls have DE in sandbath & coop ACV in their water, poultry spice in their food, and often do their legs with scaly leg spray to stop them drying out, i dont know who's more pampered LOL good luck introducing your newbie

 

[cgtara3]

What about one hen who needs companions? I have one hen left who used to have 7 sisters. She originally was from a flock of 12. Two were killed the first year by some animal. One was killed by a raccoon crawling through the top of the enclosure. I remember how she saw her sister's body, and then for two nights would not go back into the coop until I made her go in. This last time I believe it was come canine creature that killed the flock this past Saturday. She appears to be less traumatized now, but I think she needs a buddy who is a chicken. I have thought about getting a couple birds who are similar in age. She is about 2 years old. I saw an ad where there are birds who are a year old. How would that be? The last resort would be to get started pullets..a couple of them..from a hatchery. We do plan on having more chicks, but that does not take care of the problem now.

 

[brlarson84]

I have had great success sneaking them in after dark.

 

[Chickenberry]

This was a great thread!

When our roo died about two weeks later we added another new roo... and there wasn't any controversy at all. We just put him in and that was that. No squawking or feathers flying...Is it different for roo's than hens?

I would LOVE to add a couple more hens this summer and I'm thinking about running a small pen along side of our regular pen and letting the new hens go into it for a week or two before introducing them for the first time.

 

[Whispering_Raven]

Ok...resurrecting this thread!

I've asked a couple of BYC Members this questions and am waiting for a reply, but I want to throw this out there for some thoughts from more experienced folks.

I brought home 2 gorgeous Black Ameraucanas a few days ago. I have a small established flock of 4 Sex-Link hens (supposed to by RIRs, but I can't say for sure). One is VERY Broody and is sitting on a full nest. 2 Barred Plymouth Rock Roosters and 1 Barred Rock Hen. The Ameraucanas are easily frightened but they are calm in my arms. After the first day, I decided to bring them out to the coop during the day while the others (other than Broody Sunshine) were out foraging. They had a ball and Sunshine didn't seem to care very much until they got close to her nest.

I put the Ameraucanas back in the box before the others came home and brought them back in the house for the night. They were rather content, although I could tell they weren't ready to come inside yet.

Today, I did the same thing, except everyone came home early! I was making some repairs to the fence and it was screeching, screaming and chasing. I caught my Ameraucanas, put them in their box, and brought them inside. They are quiet and comfortable sitting here next to me.

I've read on this thread as well as others that many, many folks have success with night-time intros. I had planned on doing that. My philosophy in bringing them out to the coop area was so that their scent and feathers were there. So, my question is....Now that the others have seen "the intruders" will I still be able to do the night-time/roost intro?

Guidance is GREATLY appreciated!

Blessings!

Tracy