Introducing to a flock

[Want Less]

Flock #1 = Four 14 month old hens (two black sex links and two RIR)

Flock #2 = One 14 month old black sex link that was removed from flock #1 and an 11 week old BC Marans girl/roo pair

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The scenario = The 14 month old black sex link in flock #2 was removed from the main flock because she was the rooster's favorite and he was over breeding her. When she started losing her back feathers, the other hens started picking on her. We moved her to the young Marans pen so she could recover & de-stress. We have since sold our big rooster to eventually make room for the Marans roo to take over when he's big enough.

The hen was petrified of the other girls by the time we removed her & was bottom of the totem pole. She does well with the Marans, and she is the boss by default of course.

Eventually we need to not only reintroduce her back to the main flock when she's fully feathered again, but also introduce the Marans pair. They are both very submissive. The Marans roo will be the only rooster on the farm and are intentions are for him to take over the flock.

How to I introduce each of these three to the main flock safely and with minimal trauma? And at what age with the Marans? We have a small pen within the main pen that we can start off with but where do we go from there?

I'd love to hear how any of you would handle this situation.

 

[Judy]

I would wait til the Marans pair are the same size as the others and introduce them all at once, while free ranging and with treats. If the BSL still doesn't have all her feathers by then (they may not grow back til after a molt) then put an apron / saddle on her first.

 

[Want Less]

Quote:
Thanks! Thats kinda along the lines of what I was thinking so thats good to hear. We had a saddle on the BSL for quite a while and she did well with it for a few weeks until she decided one day she didnt like it anymore. While she couldnt figure out how to get it off, she kept pecking and pulling it off to one side (its the kind that crosses across their chest) so I removed it. She has some new pin feathers coming in so I was wondering if the saddle was starting to irritate them.