Mourning birds & integration

[daisyew]

Hi I'm new to this site for the reason I'd like some advice on my RIs!

Yesterday through my fault not getting to my chickens cry fast enough a horrid fox took one of my five Rhode Island hens, Polly.

I thought I'd get replacements sooner than later so got two more RIs today. The other 4 scream and cry every time they go near the introductory pen (where I have my new two). They are being very offensive towards the two newbies, who are younger by a few months so quite a bit smaller (I have a young brood).

As I said I've put the two newbies in a pen in the garden and will put them in the coup with my other girls when they go to bed.

Is it that my girls are mourning? And does anyone have any advise or an experience of integrating new birds in this kind of situation?

From Someone who'd love your help!

 

[TwoCrows]

Welcome to BYC!

So sorry about the fox attack.

It is never easy to lose them this way.

And while birds of the original flock can miss other members, unless they are now a lone, birds won't act depressed or aggressive for the most part. They do eventually forget the loss.

What you have going is something entirely different. You can't just mix in new birds to an existing flock without chaos. There is a pecking order in every flock and it must be adhered to at all times.

First before mixing in new birds, these newbies need to be at least 4 months old, or about the same size as the original flock. So if they are younger, they are going to need to grow up a bit.

If they are old enough, you will need to keep the new birds separated but within the flock for about 3 weeks. Everybody sees, nobody touches. Not only does this allow for quarantine time for the new birds, but lets the original flock to work out the pecking order from behind wire. Nobody gets hurt. In a few weeks, you can mix them together. Things should go fairly smoothly for the most part. However always watch closely for that day and that first week. And always intervene if it turns bloody. It helps to out out more feeding and water stations for the new birds so they don't have to compete with the older flock.

Good luck with your new flock and welcome to ours!

 

[daisyew]

Thank you so much for the advice! This is my first brood, so never had to integrate any new birds before.

That makes sense, I do that with my horses but wasn't sure on my birds.

They can see my new girls from separate pens and although it's only been a few hours, my older gals already seem to care less about their new neighbours!

All of them are relatively young, oldies 7.5months and newbies 4months, so they should catch up soon in size in hoping. My older birds grew rapidly when I first got them.

I really appreciate the advice!! Thank you

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! Sorry about your loss, foxes are nasty predators. TwoCrows gave you some good advice about integrating your flock. Here is a nice article from the Learning Center on adding new birds to an existing flock https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/adding-to-your-flock
You might also like to check out / post on the Predator forum for advice on dealing with foxes www.backyardchickens.com/f/13/predators-and-pests

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Welcome to BYC.

 

[gander007]

 

[drumstick diva]

The fox will be back- any time they score an easy lunch they will continue to come back and may even bring their friends. Have you beefed up security on your coop and run? If your birds were free ranging when attacked. Keep them inside an enclosed run until the fox decides he needs to look elsewhere for a meal.