Introducing two chickens who hate each other

[sourland]

And that folks, is why pictures are priceless.

Amen.

 

[sourland]

Sunny is a meat bird cockerel.. cornish cross .. and your Deleware Snow isn't used to being mated.

Happy looks fine...

Rehome your Sunny if you don't want or need a rooster.. Yes he was mislabeled.

You could also just keep sunny behind the wire mesh while he matures some more and let the females bond a bit.. try integrating him later.

Two ladies passing in a short period.. I'd want answers. Sorry for your loss!

Best wishes finding a solution!

And therein lies the problem. Separation is your solution.

 

[Zerex]

She doesn't seem like a rooster to me but I suppose I will find out once she continues maturing. If she is I wouldn't have the heart to get rid of her so I'll have to figure something out. Separating the birds will make them lonely. I want them to be happy and have happy lives.

I'm concerned about Snow's loneliness right now and am considering her spending time only with Happy but Happy is very bonded to Sunny and I don't want to separate her from her only from speculation of her gender. I would like all three of them to be together and for them to be happy. I didn't think that this would be an insurmountable task but one that would have steps involved to make them get together in the end.

"Separation" is not my solution for how to get them together.

 

[Mrs. K]

Take your hand, and gently pull out the feathers on the white birds neck. If they are long and pointy, he is a cockerel.

And there are some birds that do not get along. It will cause a lot of tension in the flock. You can't just wish chickens nice.

There are things that will increase the chance of them getting along, that is enough space in the run and coop, hideouts, roosts, platforms in the coop. Go into your run and look around. Is it just an open rectangle? Can every chicken see every other bird all of the time? If so, you need to set up obstacles, boxes, mini walls, places where a bird can step out of sight for a moment. Multiple feed bowls can help.

You might try pin-less peepers, they often work well on an aggressive hen, espcieally birds in small flocks and small coops.

Truthfully though, I don't see this working, I think he is a cockerel, and a meat bird, and they generally live very short lives, as in less than a year. Separation at least by the chicken wire, where they can see but not touch is probably the best solution, even if it does not fit your wishes.

Mrs K

 

[aart]

I would like all three of them to be together and for them to be happy.

You can wish in one hand....and....

only from speculation of her gender.

You've got some pretty experienced people here telling you that's a male meat bird.

 

[Zerex]

You can wish in one hand....and....

You've got some pretty experienced people here telling you that's a male meat bird.

Isn't that a good thing to wish for? They are my pets after all. I can want them to be happy. Asking for advice on this website was supposed to get me enough to emulate a plan.

From a picture. A picture of a four month old chick. Guesses can be wrong even from experienced people. It does happen. I will continue to love and nurture her regardless of what her gender ends up being. And what does it matter if she's a meat bird? Can't I love her regardless? I have no qualms about loving animals, regardless of type.

 

[Zerex]

Take your hand, and gently pull out the feathers on the white birds neck. If they are long and pointy, he is a cockerel.

And there are some birds that do not get along. It will cause a lot of tension in the flock. You can't just wish chickens nice.

There are things that will increase the chance of them getting along, that is enough space in the run and coop, hideouts, roosts, platforms in the coop. Go into your run and look around. Is it just an open rectangle? Can every chicken see every other bird all of the time? If so, you need to set up obstacles, boxes, mini walls, places where a bird can step out of sight for a moment. Multiple feed bowls can help.

You might try pin-less peepers, they often work well on an aggressive hen, espcieally birds in small flocks and small coops.

Truthfully though, I don't see this working, I think he is a cockerel, and a meat bird, and they generally live very short lives, as in less than a year. Separation at least by the chicken wire, where they can see but not touch is probably the best solution, even if it does not fit your wishes.

Mrs K

I will have to look up pin-less peepers. Your suggestions are helpful and appreciated. So far you are the only one giving me an actual answer of how they could be introduced and eventually get along, and for that I am thankful. Regardless of whether or not you think the outcome will be negative.

I can change a chicken to become nice, or at least to me I can. I have experience raising chickens as pets. I have raised skittish chickens before and they have all eventually warmed up to me. It might be harder making two skittish chickens liking each other but I will still try. This has been my first experience with this kind of animosity but I will still be hopeful that I can lead them into a peaceful existence.

Seeing how it is night I will have to try your suggestion of pulling her feathers tomorrow. I don't think I want to actually pull them out, though. Don't want to hurt her, after all. But I could probably look at her feathers regardless.

If she does end up dying in a years time then I will make sure to try and give her a happy life for as long as humanely possible. Perhaps I should spoil her.

Thanks again.

 

[Matejka]

Do the best you can with the information you've been given. Sometimes, life throws us a surprise. We handle each one the best we can. Continue trying to integrate all the birds, just keep in mind what you want may or may not happen.
IF Sunny is a meat bird, you might try limiting the food, to keep weight down, and hopefully extend life with exercise and healthy eating, just like people fat is not good. As far as Sunnys sex-time will tell. Good luck

 

[jus10inla]

do u mean fighting as in sunny stands on snows wings & bites her neck? If so sorry thats 100% rooster.. which aint gona stop.. until hes dead. Sorry just plainful truth...

So, I'm in a bit of a predicament. A while back one of my chickens died. I keep all of my chickens as pets so this was very heartbreaking. I adopted two other chickens to keep my other two happy. I separated them through a wire mesh grate in the coop to keep them separated but they could also see each other and get use to one another. This has worked fine for me in the past. I had to kind of rush my plans to introduce them when another of my hens died leaving the other by herself.

However, it appears that Snow and Sunny (one of my chicks) hate each other. This is not normal pecking behavior. They are genuinely afraid of each other and are pecking to kill. This is likely because Sunny grew so fast. She's only a few months old but already larger than the average hen. I assume she's a leghorn, the store that I got her at must have mislabeled her. Sunny is sweet but she looks intimidating which is causing Snow to attack her violently every time I try to introduce them. My last chick, Happy, also must have been mislabeled because she is small enough to be a bantam and I've raised rhode island reds before and she is nowhere near as large as she should be. Also a cause for concern.

I had thought that the wire mesh would have been enough for them to get used to each other...

My problem is timing. It gets very cold around here and if I can't find a way for all three of them to get along before the snow hits they will be in very bad trouble, especially my Snow, who is already so very lonely. If anyone has any suggestions about how to make two chickens who hate each other to the death become friends that would be very nice. Otherwise, I'm in real trouble here.

 

[Zerex]

do u mean fighting as in sunny stands on snows wings & bites her neck? If so sorry thats 100% rooster.. which aint gona stop.. until hes dead. Sorry just plainful truth...

Um... no. I would obviously know what that would mean if that would happen. I meant fighting as in Snow takes one look at Sunny and bites her hard in the back of her neck. Then Sunny backs up, puffs her feathers out and bites back. Then they chase each other around the coop trying to kill one another and draw blood. Is that mating?