New chicken help..

webstertroy88

Hatching
8 Years
Dec 10, 2011
5
0
7
I have just set up my first coop with my kids.. we have all hens 2 2month old 2 5 month old and after having them about a week we got a rir laying hen from a friends.. I put them together at night right away one of my 5 month olds started fighting with her.. after a few minets they stoped.. The adult hen went into the nesting box.. Box but wouldnt let anyone into the box.. any help would be great...
 
Chickens do not like change...that includes new coop mates. They will peck eachother for a little while to figure out who is boss. They should settle down after a week or so...just keep a watch on them to make sure no blood is drawn. They should be fine though.
 
Chickens HATE change. When I stapled feed bags over their coop windows for winterization, they refused to go back in their own coop. I removed a couple coverings and half of them have agreed it's okay to go back in there. The other 5-6 still refuse and are sleeping at night on top of the shed.
 
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webstertroy88!

The pecking order has to be established.

I always recommend to quarantine any new birds. By just throwing a new bird into the cage with your
current birds, you risk infecting all your birds with a disease or illness that the new bird could possibly have.
Next time, I'd quarantine for 30 days or so.

I recommend putting the new hen into a crate, then setting the crate in the coop with your current chickens.
This way they can interact with each other - but no one gets hurt. After a week or two of this you can let her
out under your supervision. Closely watch - theres gonna be a peck or two here or there, but as long as there
is no ganging up - pinning the bird into a corner and repeatedly flogging the new bird, blood being drawn, or
any injuries - theres no reason to worry. The pecking order will get sorted out soon enough.

Good luck
 
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