- Sep 2, 2008
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Hi All!
I posted a few weeks back that we were looking to add some chickies to our recently reduced flock of 2. I found a super nice lady who sold us two 12-week old Brahmas from a nice farm. Her granddaughter was small enough to get in the coop and grab them, we just said grab two that look different! We got them home and all snug in the dog crate in the basement. The next day my husband and I both were thinking the same thing...why didn't we get that little barred cochin we saw? Okay, I'll go back and get her! More chickens!!!
The poor little thing turned out to be really runty, must have been at the bottom of the pecking order of 30 or so pullets. We named her Teeny Tiny. She's really small, has a bare spot just above the tail from pecking, and the rest of her feathers look yucky. At first I was thinking, oh good, I'm glad we got her out of there. But I tossed her in with the other two and they went right for that spot. So I've had her separated in a cat carrier right next to the dog kennel in the basement. Her feathers are growing in and she's getting extra mealworms and time to recover. She's really sweet, probably from all the extra attention.
When I let all 5 girls in the yard together, they get along rather well. The big cochin is the top hen and will chase a little, but everyone can get away. Still when I put her in with the two younger ones they go for her after a few minutes. So now I have to do two integrations, one to get Teeny Tiny in with the Brahmas, then get all those three outside with the two big girls.
Any suggestions on speeding this along? Would it be better to get the Brahmas in with the big girls first, then add Teeny Tiny after she gets bigger? Will she be lonely? Is it bad for them to forget about her if the Brahmas move in first? I need a chicken psychologist!
I posted a few weeks back that we were looking to add some chickies to our recently reduced flock of 2. I found a super nice lady who sold us two 12-week old Brahmas from a nice farm. Her granddaughter was small enough to get in the coop and grab them, we just said grab two that look different! We got them home and all snug in the dog crate in the basement. The next day my husband and I both were thinking the same thing...why didn't we get that little barred cochin we saw? Okay, I'll go back and get her! More chickens!!!
The poor little thing turned out to be really runty, must have been at the bottom of the pecking order of 30 or so pullets. We named her Teeny Tiny. She's really small, has a bare spot just above the tail from pecking, and the rest of her feathers look yucky. At first I was thinking, oh good, I'm glad we got her out of there. But I tossed her in with the other two and they went right for that spot. So I've had her separated in a cat carrier right next to the dog kennel in the basement. Her feathers are growing in and she's getting extra mealworms and time to recover. She's really sweet, probably from all the extra attention.
When I let all 5 girls in the yard together, they get along rather well. The big cochin is the top hen and will chase a little, but everyone can get away. Still when I put her in with the two younger ones they go for her after a few minutes. So now I have to do two integrations, one to get Teeny Tiny in with the Brahmas, then get all those three outside with the two big girls.
Any suggestions on speeding this along? Would it be better to get the Brahmas in with the big girls first, then add Teeny Tiny after she gets bigger? Will she be lonely? Is it bad for them to forget about her if the Brahmas move in first? I need a chicken psychologist!
