Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Ribh]

P.S. I never had to integrate new chickens before. Alway let broodies hatch for a few more chickens. I did read some artivles/threads kn the past, But cooping with a newby in reality is not the same.

Is it true that I leave them to sort it out themselves , as long as there is no blood?

I do my integrations long & slow ~ but I've never had just one chicken. I do look, don't touch for several weeks. Once my established flock pretty much ignores the newbies I free range them together. If there are attacks I separate & try again in a few days. I do this until they will free range peaceably together but separate for roosting. Once the new girls show interest in roosting with the biggies I put them on a lower roost after the girls have settled for the night. I don't usually have many problems with this method.

 

[Shadrach]

Actually she doesnt as to be expected. One newby in an established flock is never easy I guess.

First I let them see don’t touch for a couple of hours. And there was no fuss when I opened up the gate between the two runs.

I had high hopes when I let the oldest (superior) hen Ini mini meet Kraai.
She walked up to her, just looked her in the eye and returned to other part of the tun.

But I couldn’t stay long to observe , and closed the opening again

Later before roosting time I opened up again and scattered some scratch for a full belly before the night.
But then Black my black Dutch (nr. 2) started to attack her. And after that the others started to attack Kraai/Crow too. I thought it was better to seperate again.

When it got dark Kraai/Crow didn’t want to go in the tiny coop in the second run where I put her. So I picked her up and put her in the small coop. The others chickens roosted already in the other part of the coop. Silly Kraai/Crow didn’t stay in the small coop, but went to the other side and disturbed the flock.

Again Black was not amused and stated to peck her. At first in the neck. Kraai/Crow showed obedience but this wasn’t good enough apparently. Black stated to peck Kraai on the head and eyes too. So I took her away from the roost area and now I locked her in the small coop. She is roosting there. With water and food for tomorrow morning.

Any suggestions for the best way to handle this?
Can I separate Black/two chickens for a day so Kraai can integrate with the ones that are nice to her?

Edited language things.

I've never done it.
I've had single rescues in Catalonia and they either lived in the trees, or in one of the spare coops.

 

[BDutch]

I do my integrations long & slow ~ but I've never had just one chicken. I do look, don't touch for several weeks. Once my established flock pretty much ignores the newbies I free range them together. If there are attacks I separate & try again in a few days. I do this until they will free range peaceably together but separate for roosting. Once the new girls show interest in roosting with the biggies I put them on a lower roost after the girls have settled for the night. I don't usually have many problems with this method.

Thanks.
I think I have to rebuild the tiny coop a little so Kraai can roost properly in the second run.
I suppose separating for a longer period is the best solution.

But Kraai will be alone for 4 weeks then, because we are going on a 3-week vacation next week.
My neighbours are good chicken sitters but I can’t ask them to take part in the integration.

 

[Shadrach]

P.S. I never had to integrate new chickens before. Alway let broodies hatch for a few more chickens. I did read some artivles/threads kn the past, But cooping with a newby in reality is not the same.

Is it true that I leave them to sort it out themselves , as long as there is no blood?

That has been my approach with most inter chicken disputes.

 

[no fly zone]

Skeksis Jr.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Ya know you all have made me recall Dad putting sheet metal around the base of trees around the coops. said it was to protect them..

 

[BDutch]

That has been my approach with most inter chicken disputes.

I can’t leave my chickens outside because there there are too many predators where I live. There is a fox coming into the neighborhood every now and then. And a few years back people spotted marters too. So I prefer to lock them up safely.

The second run has fine chicken (maze 2,5 cm) wire and cat netting on top and is reasonably safe. But I don’t like the idea very much that she has to live there for 4 weeks. It would be great if I could let Kraai integrate before our vacation.

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

@Shadrach @RoyalChick

These are the guards I intend to get:
https://www.possumguard.com.au/

In New Zealand the only thing that can threaten an adult chicken are dogs, feral cats (rarely) and ferrets/stoats/weasels. We have hawks, but no owls large enough to be a threat. No larger predators, no snakes. I feel comfortable letting them be in trees on my current property as it is not a ferret friendly location.

 

[RoyalChick]

@Shadrach @RoyalChick

These are the guards I intend to get:
https://www.possumguard.com.au/

In New Zealand the only thing that can threaten an adult chicken are dogs, feral cats (rarely) and ferrets/stoats/weasels. We have hawks, but no owls large enough to be a threat. No larger predators, no snakes. I feel comfortable letting them be in trees on my current property as it is not a ferret friendly location.

Interesting. I was thinking I needed a cone shape.

 

[Perris]

some very good news this morning!
https://www.theguardian.com/busines...ects-to-lay-carbon-neutral-eggs-for-morrisons
what the article doesn't say is what insects they're using... I'm guessing from the relevant firm's website (https://betterorigin.co.uk/our-product/ ) it's black soldier fly larvae, because of the 2 week turnaround and they can fly, so are much more difficult to raise than mealworms so that customers will be less inclined to DIY it once they see the benefits of insects in the feed.

further rummaging on their site confirms they're using BSFL https://betterorigin.co.uk/2021/06/why-insect-feed-is-great-for-poultry/