Lost 2 pullets, one left to integrate… how??

[BlueberryOatmeal]

Hi all. I’m having a horrible night—I was out for the weekend and had a friend check in on my pullets yesterday, since I would get home today. They found one of my pullets dead, who had been sick and isolated, so that didn’t come as a surprise, although it still hurt. Tonight when I got home another of my pullets was dead with no clear cause. She was my most active and brave girl, no former signs of illness.

I’m brokenhearted and I’m struggling through the guilt of trusting they would be ok for one day and being proven wrong. But I’m also concerned for my last pullet, because I really wanted her to have a buddy going into my flock so she doesn’t get bullied too badly.

What can I do for her? All advice and kind words is helpful. This has been a terrible weekend and I just feel sick to my stomach with guilt and worry.

 

[BDutch]

First sorry to hear this happened.
Second, don’t blame yourself. Sometime things like this are inevitable, even with the best intentions.
Third, you are right about the integration. A lonely pullet probably wil have a hard time integrating into an existing flock.

There a several options though.
One is to buy one pullet if you can. A few weeks older or younger is no problem. Let these two get accustomed to each other. Maybe you even beed to quarantine if you have doubt about the seller.

The other is to buy a few chicks. Introduce the chicks to the hens at a young age, just a few weeks old. Give the chicks their own feeding station and a hide out where the pullet has no access to. See if the lonely hen accepts. She probably pecks the chicks. But of the pecks are gently its just to learn the chicks how to behave. if she really hurts the chicks separate longer. After the chicks and the pullet are friends, you can start to think about further integration.

How old is your pullet?

 

[BlueberryOatmeal]

First sorry to hear this happened.
Second, don’t blame yourself. Sometime things like this are inevitable, even with the best intentions.
Third, you are right about the integration. A lonely pullet probably wil have a hard time integrating into an existing flock.

There a several options though.
One is to buy one pullet if you can. A few weeks older or younger is no problem. Let these two get accustomed to each other. Maybe you even beed to quarantine if you have doubt about the seller.

The other is to buy a few chicks. Introduce the chicks to the hens at a young age, just a few weeks old. Give the chicks their own feeding station and a hide out where the pullet has no access to. See if the lonely hen accepts. She probably pecks the chicks. But of the pecks are gently its just to learn the chicks how to behave. if she really hurts the chicks separate longer. After the chicks and the pullet are friends, you can start to think about further integration.

How old is your pullet?

Thank you for the comfort and advice. I’ll see if I can find a pullet friend for her, as I’m not equipped for chicks.

She is about 5 months old.

 

[BDutch]

Thank you for the comfort and advice. I’ll see if I can find a pullet friend for her, as I’m not equipped for chicks.

She is about 5 months old.

This age gives you a third possibility to integrate.
Put one of your adult hens with the lonely pullet. If they get along, or after a month you can start to integrate these two together in your existing flock. Or if you have many hens: add a third hen and wait a little longer.

How many hens do you have?

 

[BlueberryOatmeal]

This age gives you a third possibility to integrate.
Put one of your adult hens with the lonely pullet. If they get along, or after a month you can start to integrate these two together in your existing flock. Or if you have many hens: add a third hen and wait a little longer.

How many hens do you have?

I only have two hens, which makes this even harder. I was hoping to build up my flock with the 3 pullets.

 

[BDutch]

I only have two hens, which makes this even harder. I was hoping to build up my flock with the 3 pullets.

The bullying might be not too bad with only 2 hens. It seems (from reading) that if you let the hens join the pullet, the chances they start bullying the pullet are less obvious. Bc they are not on their own territory.

 

[BlueberryOatmeal]

The bullying might be not too bad with only 2 hens. It seems (from reading) that if you let the hens join the pullet, the chances they start bullying the pullet are less obvious. Bc they are not on their own territory.

This is very clever, thank you for the advice. After I monitor the final pullet for disease for a few weeks, I’ll try that approach.