My First Chicken Gets Her First Friend! How do I ensure it goes smoothly?

[GottaHatchAPlan]

Just to add to what others have offered, a single chicken will usually be very happy to have a friend. As flock animals, they don't fare well alone.
It is usually different when dealing with single birds as opposed to an established flock.
I've even had a 3 month old cockerel adopt about 10 chicks. After he got over the shock of no longer being alone he watched over them like mother hen.

Aww, that sounds adorable!
Yeah, I'm really hoping the loneliness of the last few weeks will speed up the bonding process.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

As long as you have sufficient space, I think you will be OK. Normally you want to introduce like numbers and like sizes. Normally you would want to quarantine too but I doubt that will happen here.
2 lone chickens have no one else to bond with but each other.
Do you have any desire to add more birds in the future?
I never recommend anyone have fewer than 3 birds. If one dies, the others will still have a friend. It's best to get all the birds up front because, as was discussed, adding to an existing flock has problems.
Here's something on quarantine you may want to read from the Victoria, AU ag. dept.
http://agriculture.vic.gov.au/agric...ry/quarantine-advice-for-small-poultry-flocks

 

[GottaHatchAPlan]

As long as you have sufficient space, I think you will be OK. Normally you want to introduce like numbers and like sizes. Normally you would want to quarantine too but I doubt that will happen here.
2 lone chickens have no one else to bond with but each other.
Do you have any desire to add more birds in the future?
I never recommend anyone have fewer than 3 birds. If one dies, the others will still have a friend. It's best to get all the birds up front because, as was discussed, adding to an existing flock has problems.
Here's something on quarantine you may want to read from the Victoria, AU ag. dept.
http://agriculture.vic.gov.au/agric...ry/quarantine-advice-for-small-poultry-flocks

We're thinking of getting 3 hens in total, eventually. We're still pretty new to this so we thought it best to add one bird at a time and see how we go, plus we thought if we got 2 new chickens at once Peggy would be outnumbered (and bullied) or ignored. There's also the coryza to consider; if 2 birds get sick at once it might be a bit much to handle, but deal with just one at a time is much more manageable.
Thanks for the link. I've read similar articles on quarantine before and will definitely keep them as separate as possible over the first week. I know most sources recommend 2-6 weeks but our yard really isn't segregated enough to allow long-term quarantine, and seeing as one of the birds is already sick it's really only a matter of ensuring nothing new comes in.