One too many Need help

[7L Farm]

I asked yesterday with not much help. Here goes A freind was down to his last pullet so I took it probably shouldn't have. I need to add her to my flock but its not going very good. I have her in a cage inside my coop. The past two nights I put her on the roost with the others no problem. Then before dawn back in the cage.I already no its easier to introduce 2 but I only have 1.I tried letting her free range with my 10 RIR's & one roo they didn't take to kindly to her. I tried again & she wants to run away. The pullet is the same size but shes a dominique. Beleive it or not she layed her first egg yesterday.I would like to keep her but how do I introduce her does anybody know.

 

[snowflake]

you are doing fine but it takes longer with a single hen. you could leave the crate open so she has a place to hide, but they should come around. I had a single chick at about 3 mo. it was getting cold so I forced momma and baby back to the big coop(they had been free ranging with others although they stayed apart. when they got into the big coop mamma protected for a couple days .once he was on his own they harassed him constantly he would sleep tucked down between the wall and the roost. I started feeding him out of my hand and he became less afraid of me. by mid winter he was up on the roost more often. Now is one of the group, except for being a teenage rooster and trying to jump every hen in his sight, I had hoped he was a she and was unsure till the tail feathers started growing. an EE Brahma mix the comb and wattles are small on both hens and Roo's. Good luck with yours It does take more time when it is only one. and although they harassed the heck out of him they never really hurt him.

 

[schellie69]

Maybe use the search button and see if there is any old post about this maybe someone posted something before that might help you. Good luck its always tough when you add to your flock.

 

[7L Farm]

Quote:
Your suggesting to me to leave the cage door open. Not a problem but won't the others go in the cage after her.

 

[7L Farm]

Quote:
Trust me I've been looking . I feel sorry for the poor girl she has no freinds & living inside a cage I hate it but don't no what to do. If I let her out she's probably going to run away.

 

[elmo]

Here's what I would try. I'd take the lowest ranking hen in my existing flock and pen her with the new chicken. Make sure they have enough room and watch to see how they're getting along. Squabbling is ok, but drawing blood isn't. Try to make sure there are vertical things to hide behind, something like an old cardboard box would even work.

When these two have learned to get along with each other, then I'd reintroduce the pair of them to the flock. It's always easier when you have a buddy!

Be patient. It might take a while.

 

[KimberlyJ]

I thought I posted this in yesterday's thread, but I reviewed that one and don't see it. Also since you haven't gotten may other ideas perhaps this will help. (This fall I added 7 pullets to my 5 hens and it was rough, it takes alot of work and ingenuity on the human's part.) First of all "everyone" here says it's really tough to add just one, so don't. Add two or three. OK so you have only one new girl in a cage. Do you have enough room in the cage to put one or two current chickens in with her? Take your smallest or least dominate hen(s) out of your flock and put her in the cage with the new girl. Leave just the two of them together for a week or so, then put them in with the flock. When you put the two in with the flock take the top hen out and put her in the cage. This way the 2 "new girls" have a better chance of fitting in. The next week let the top hen back in with the flock. I also find it helps if I rearrange the coop and run so it's a bit new to everyone. I add a couple bales of hay or straw so a runner can get away from a chaser. Try not to make any dead ends where one can get cornered. I also add in (or rearrange) a few logs I have. They're big around and I put them on end. A lower bird can jump up on the log and be bigger than the dominate one. We have a shelf with the nest boxes on top. We sorta built a jail/playpen by making a divider with slats close enough together that the little girls could get thru them but not the big hens. We made sure food and water were inside. This only works with 2 sized birds though. The last "hint" is actually the hardest to do.......nothing. You kinda have to, at some point, step back and let the girls work it out. There are words in the english language like "hen pecked" and "pecking order" for a reason. They exist in your flock no mater what you do. Truthfully the new little girl may never fit in. My 5 and 7 are still two separate groups within one flock. I'm hoping when the "lillte" girls start laying in a few weeks it'll get better, but not sure if it will......


I see elmo and I have the same idea, he just types faster!

 

[7L Farm]

Quote:
Thanks for the help!! I don't have that big of a cage. Here's what I did I had one laying in the nest box's so I shut the coop door & let the new girl out. No problems in the coop the problem now is all the other girls on the outside are going crazy flying up on top of the coop & run bokbok. They never want in the coop always out. Now they want in. I think just before dark I'm gonna let them both out & see what happens. I'm not gonna fight this battle for a week. I have learned something though the heck with adding to your flock. I did add a roo to the flock . I opened the coop door & threw him in & never had a problem.

 

[Mrs. K]

Adding roos are different. Once I added one, the top hen knocked him down, but he jumped up, and took control.

But the advice about adding stuff and different levels to your run is very good and helps a great deal. I have a wire cage, that I set kiddycorner to the corner of the pen, not up tight, but narrow enough, that is slows down the pursuer. Having some extra branches, where the hens can roost outside at different levels also helps, adding levels actually gives more square feet, cause of the different levels. Anything that makes for blindspots, can let a hen hide out a bit.

MrsK