- Jun 4, 2009
- 7
- 0
- 7
Hello all,
My very first post is a question so I thank you in advance for your answers and I hope to contribute over time.
We are new to chicken keeping, but have done a lot of research and I also did a one day workshop to get us started. However, I think we may have already made a mistake!
We bought our first girls on Sunday. Two point of lay Hybrids and one 11 week old Light Sussex. Chicken keeping has taken off in a massive way over here (Ireland) right now and the poultry sale we attended was mobbed, so we missed out on the breed we most wanted, a Plymouth Rock. We sourced one from a respected breeder yesterday and collected her last night. She is 12 weeks old, a beauty, but very nervous of us. The other three girls have been so calm, you would hardly know they were there.
Anyway, we kept her indoors overnight as she got here late. Today we put her in a box on it's side with wire over it, right up against the chicken run so they could all check each other out. It went really well, no commotion, nothing. I realise you are supposed to introduce a new bird slowly to an existing flock, but as the other three have only been together since Sunday, I thought we could speed things up a bit.
We let the hybrids and LS out to free range earlier and put the PR in to the run. They all had a great look at each other then and the PR was soon in and out of the pop hole and seemed a bit more relaxed. When it came time for the others to come in, she was in the coop. As soon as she came out, all three of them attacked her. I felt so bad as she made pathetic noises and tried to escape. Luckily, she darted back into the coop and the others didn't follow.
The same thing has happened twice since. My question is, should I reverse quickly and remove her again to a separate box for a few days, or persevere as the worst may be over?
Thank you.
My very first post is a question so I thank you in advance for your answers and I hope to contribute over time.
We are new to chicken keeping, but have done a lot of research and I also did a one day workshop to get us started. However, I think we may have already made a mistake!
We bought our first girls on Sunday. Two point of lay Hybrids and one 11 week old Light Sussex. Chicken keeping has taken off in a massive way over here (Ireland) right now and the poultry sale we attended was mobbed, so we missed out on the breed we most wanted, a Plymouth Rock. We sourced one from a respected breeder yesterday and collected her last night. She is 12 weeks old, a beauty, but very nervous of us. The other three girls have been so calm, you would hardly know they were there.
Anyway, we kept her indoors overnight as she got here late. Today we put her in a box on it's side with wire over it, right up against the chicken run so they could all check each other out. It went really well, no commotion, nothing. I realise you are supposed to introduce a new bird slowly to an existing flock, but as the other three have only been together since Sunday, I thought we could speed things up a bit.
We let the hybrids and LS out to free range earlier and put the PR in to the run. They all had a great look at each other then and the PR was soon in and out of the pop hole and seemed a bit more relaxed. When it came time for the others to come in, she was in the coop. As soon as she came out, all three of them attacked her. I felt so bad as she made pathetic noises and tried to escape. Luckily, she darted back into the coop and the others didn't follow.
The same thing has happened twice since. My question is, should I reverse quickly and remove her again to a separate box for a few days, or persevere as the worst may be over?
Thank you.
