New, with a rescue! Please advise and help!

[TandyRanch9]

Hello there. I'm new to all this and in need of advise. I'll start with a short version of my story. A few weeks ago, while on a walk, my friend and I came upon a chicken being attacked by a dog. We rescued her of course, and my friend, who already had chickens, took her home. She was quickly rejected by the flock and attacked, leaving her worse off than when we found her ...and so begins my adventure. My husband and I are currently building a coop and run and I hope to bring her home this week.
Now for my question! What is the best way to build my flock with a grown hen already established? I'm going to give her some time to heal and be healthy before I get a few more, my coop is 4'x4' with a 4x10+/- run and I plan to let them run when we are out there but not full time because we have a large pool and garden(any advise on this would be great too). I know that won't house many chickens but I only plan on having maybe 3 or 4 at the most. Should I buy babies and raise them up with her or buy grown hens and introduce them?
I know chickens are flock animal and I don't want her to be lonely but I couldn't stand for her to be rejected and attacked again. Thank you for your time and wisdom!!!

 

[Nocila]

I'd get full sized birds as soon as she's healthy enough to deal with new birds, otherwise you'll have to set up a brooder to care for the chicks... You could get some started birds, or some bantams, that way she can be with birds that are smaller, and a lot less likely to harm her...

 

[dragonbabyx3]

Getting full grown bantams are a great start! They will be smaller than her and less likely to attack. Getting chicks would take time before they could go in with her and they would still have to establish a pecking order which means she may still get hurt and stressed out anyway. Good Luck!

 

[Chickenchick11]

I would get some chicks because if you buy some full grown hens they may attack her because they may think she's a intruder. If you want full grown hens then introduce her at night while all the birds are on their roosts. That way when they wake up in the morning they won't think she's a intruder.

 

[cafarmgirl]

It doesn't really matter whether you get chicks or adult birds, you are going to have to go through the integration process no matter what. As mentioned, if you get chicks you will have to brood them and then integrate with her when they are about 10 - 12 weeks old, you cannot raise them with her. So that route is not going to get her a new flock very quickly. But in my opinion it's easier to integrate young birds with one older bird then to integrate several older birds. If you get adult birds you really should quarantine them for a minimum of two weeks, 30 days is best, in case they have any illness or disease that becomes apparent during that time. There is always risk in bringing in new adult birds and you don't want to bring home some nasty disease that is going to cause you trouble indefinitely.

When it comes time to integrate, let them get used to each other through a fence for a week or so, then let them free range together. I would not suggest just sticking them all in the coop at night, they are smart enough to know who is a stranger when they wake up in the morning, especially in a small flock. This method has been tried here and it has never, ever worked for me! Chickens are brutal and they do NOT like strangers! If you do try that route make sure you are there before they get off the roost in the morning in case things go badly. They can scalp a bird or worse very quickly.

With the size of your coop and run I would not put more then 3 standard birds in there and I would actually make the run larger if at all possible. Integrating new birds in small spaces can be really difficult.

 

[Chickenchick11]

It doesn't really matter whether you get chicks or adult birds, you are going to have to go through the integration process no matter what.  As mentioned, if you get chicks you will have to brood them and then integrate with her when they are about 10 - 12 weeks old, you cannot raise them with her.  So that route is not going to get her a new flock very quickly. But in my opinion it's easier to integrate young birds with one older bird then to integrate several older birds.  If you get adult birds you really should quarantine them for a minimum of two weeks, 30 days is best, in case they have any illness or disease that becomes apparent during that time.  There is always risk in bringing in new adult birds and you don't want to bring home some nasty disease that is going to cause you trouble indefinitely.

When it comes time to integrate, let them get used to each other through a fence for a week or so, then let them free range together.   I would not suggest just sticking them all in the coop at night, they are smart enough to know who is a stranger when they wake up in the morning, especially in a small flock.  This method has been tried here and it has never, ever worked for me!  Chickens are brutal and they do NOT like strangers!  If you do try that route make sure you are there before they get off the roost in the morning in case things go badly.  They can scalp a bird or worse very quickly.

With the size of your coop and run I would not put more then 3 standard birds in there and I would actually make the run larger if at all possible.  Integrating new birds in small spaces can be really difficult. 

I have to (nicely) disagree. Twice one of my White Rock hens has been pecked on her comb until it bleeds for no apparent reason.( my hens are in a nice spacious 7x10 foot coop with 8 nest boxes a roost with plenty of room and a 30x30 foot run ) The first time I tried to introduce her back into the flock in daylight, bad idea, one of my Rhode Island Reds went after her comb right away. I took her out and reintroduced her back when everybody was on their roosts. I checked on them the next morning and everybody was fine. I put them in their run and everybody left the White Rock alone. Earlier this month it happened again. ( I think it's from this never ending winter. I think they got bored ) This time when reintroducing her I put her on the outside of the fence during the day then at dusk when they were all on their roosts I put her with them. I checked the next morning and they were all fine.

My case may be a bit different than yours so maybe all my advice doesn't count much. You have a much smaller coop than my coop and your introducing some totally new hens verses me just reintroducing a hen they already knew.

 

[dragonbabyx3]

I have done both. Recently we had some problems with our older hens not accepting the younger ones. So we split the coop in half with chicken wire, put a waterer and feeder on each side. They could all see each other, but the older ones could not get to the younger ones. This worked out wonderfully. After a few weeks we let them all free range together. That night, we took down the chicken wire, but left both feeders and waterers. Left those in for a few days and then took them out. Since then EVERYONE gets along. You can do this with ANY hen.

 

[seminolewind]

When I introduce newbies to my flock, and they are a bit young, I put them in a pen with a lot of obstacles so there are lots of places to hide or get away. Eventually it settles down. Chickens can be so mean to eachother