new hen, new chicks, old flock

[bj taylor]

trying to integrate a new hen into a small flock that's been together since day one. she's a buff orp. she's the lone survivor of a coyote attack & the neighbor wants her to have a new home. it's not going so well.
at the same time, I've got 12 chicks. she's now sitting on top of their brooder (with a warm tush) and listens to the babies talk all night. i'm wondering if she's going to adopt all twelve as her own & she & her new tribe will join the old flock together.
the dynamics are sure different for me.
today, she jumped over the fence. my cat led her back into the fenced area. so now, I have the most rigged up, ugliest fence in Texas. hoping it will only be for a couple of weeks.

 

[Mrs. K]

if she is talking to the chicks, try putting 1-3 with her and see how she acts. If she takes them, which would be unusual, but hey who can argue? I would give them all to her. Nothing like a good broody hen.

However, adding a single chicken to an established flock is asking for trouble, especially if you are the least bit short of space. If you have a lot of space, I would put her with one other chicken, and wait until they get along, away from the other flock. Then I would add one more hen, a mid dominant one, wait till the three of them have worked it out, and keep them together for 2-3 weeks.

Then at night I would add all three to the flock. But that is a lot of dinking around for one hen.

But if you add one hen, everyone knows she is new, does not belong, and gives her a thump, to the point she could be killed.

MrsK