New member first post

[User395221]

Hi everybody, just signed up to bombard the forum with questions....

I'm in Australia, live in the suburbs and have 4 hens. They are isa browns and are funny little "chook people". They are always following me about or running up in the hope of getting something or walking inside before I can shut the door. (they have a fenced area, and a covered run and house they go into at night, but during the day they run about the backyard and dig holes in what was once a garden. I'm not sure how old they are because they were adopted as adults.

I'm planning on getting 2 more hens (our council allows 6) and I'm getting a new (bigger) house, so I'm looking for some advice as to how to introduce the new girls and what would be a good choice. But, first things first, hello!

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Hi

Glad you could join the flock! Sounds like you are really enjoying your chickens and that they are enjoying digging your garden up!! Here is a lovely article on adding new flock members ~https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/introducing-new-chickens-using-the-see-but-don-t-touch-method

Wishing you the very best of luck and enjoy BYC

 

[User395221]

Thanks, I was just (re-)reading the "adding to your flock" info, your link is also useful. Even though I've read the theory, I'm not sure exactly how I should go about it in my particular circumstances and am hoping that more experienced "chook parents" can give me some specific advice as to what they'd do in my scenario. There's no rush to get the girls their new "sisters", so I can figure out what needs to happen before it does.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[User395221]

Thank you, glad to be here!

 

[Tracy Sun]

I'm trying to get the hang of this forum, but I am sure glad to have found you all here.

 

[N F C]

The first thing you'll need to do is keep the new birds in isolation for 30 days to protect your existing flock from possibly introducing diseases or pests. The "look but don't touch" method worked very well for us when adding new birds. Once the isolation period was over and the new birds were about the same size as the existing flock, we put up a temporary wall in the coop and run using chicken wire. After about 3 weeks, we took down the temporary fencing and let them sort out a new pecking order. There were some skirmishes but nothing serious enough to call for intervention (no blood was shed). Everyone settled into their place and they got along quite nicely. Having plenty of room in the coop and run will help make things go smoother (chickens hate being crowded).

Good luck to you and thanks for joining us!

 

[Pork Pie]

You have great advice already, so I'll just say hi and welcome to byc. If you can share your particular circumstances / setup, I'm sure you will get advice that's suited to your needs.

All the best
Ct

 

[ChickenGrass]

Welcome to backyardchickens

 

[User395221]

(chickens hate being crowded).

I don't blame them. I don't know how they can say that some of the little chicken houses are "suitable for 3 chickens" or whatever..... My existing chicken house is not that big, but it's ONLY their "bedroom". I'd feel mean having them locked up in there all the time. They love digging everything up and finding bugs or whatever it is they look for. It's the same as us, it'd be harder to accept somebody who'd moved into our bedroom than into a large house with us.

CTKen, I've already posted another thread asking for suggestions. Response I received was "there's no best way, try something and change it if it doesn't work".