Single chicken getting new friends

[kadavis08]

Good morning,
We ordered two Buff Orpingtons about two months ago from Mypetchicken.com and when they arrived, one was dead. The fastest that they could get me another pullet was about a month later, so our now 10 wk old girl, Stella, will be getting her two (HOPEFULLY) 6 week old friends (another buff and a welsummer) today. I know that you are supposed to separate new chickens from an existing flock, but I don't have a good way to separate Stella from the new girls. Do you think that she will hurt them? If so, I'll find a way to keep them separated for a while.
Thanks very much in advance.





Clearly, she's under the impression she's running the show at our house.
-Kelley

 

[Pork Pie]

I'd suggest finding a way to separate them. Even a dog crate, or something like that. Whilst she is not too much bigger than your 6 week olds, its not gonna be fun if you put them in together, without making some integration plan. Since you are aware of integration, I'll assume that you have read the many threads on the topic (but just include this one https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/introducing-new-chickens-using-the-see-but-don-t-touch-method) in the hope it helps a little.

I'm sure the likes of @aart , @azygous et al will likely provide additional input soon.

Best wishes

CT

 

[kadavis08]

Thanks! I was wondering (read as, hoping) that the dynamic would be different adding the two to one existing chicken. I am sure I can borrow a dog crate from someone in the short term, or this wretch can give hers up for a week for the incoming pullets if I can't borrow another one by this afternoon. I'll just have to put the trash in a chair...13 years old and still loving the garbage.

 

[aart]

It's really hard to say how the single bird will react to the new birds.
There may just be a few pecks here and there......or bloody beatings.

Your single girl may be accepting of the company, or not, only time will tell.
.....but you will definitely need to have a way to separate them.

A small(24"L x 18"W x 21"H), foldable wire dog crate is a great tool for any chickeneer to have, so might be a good time to invest in one.
You can use the crate to isolate the new and old birds in rotation....Chicken Juggling!

Integration woes are caused by territoriality, resident birds will defend their resources(space/food/water) from any interlopers.
The smaller the space, the worse the battle can be.
Lots of space, multiple feed/water stations, places to hide 'out of line of sight'(but not dead end traps) and/or up and away from aggressors can all help.


Pics look to show that you have a tiny coop....do you have any other confinement, large run or pen to utilize?
A roll of 6' fencing and a few posts can do in a pinch.

There's a lot of aspects to integration and many ways to accomplish it.
Read up on integration..... BYC advanced search>titles only>integration
This is good place to start reading:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/adding-to-your-flock

 

[kadavis08]

Right now, I just have the coop, no extra fenced areas or runs, and then I let Stella out (supervised) for about two hours every afternoon/evening in our fenced backyard. It's definitely the highlight of her day. Your temporary fencing idea is a great one. I may build out from the coop in the next day or so to give them more green space. Thank you!

 

[kadavis08]

I wanted to thank you very much for your responses. I did separate them briefly but they were going crazy since they could see Stella so I sort of panicked
. Stella was out looking for bugs in the yard so I let them out. She had seen them in the crate and was interested but grazing for bugs is MUCH more interesting to her so she basically ignored them. When I let them out of the dog crate, she came over to investigate. Stella has really taken to the new girls, doesn't mind sharing the roost at night, etc. I added another set of food and water options for them to keep the drama down. The new buff, 6 weeks old, is really bossy from what I can tell. The Welsummer is very meek, just coming around to letting me hold her...when I opened the box I thought for a second that they sent me a hawk.

Their coloring is very different from the pics of adults online.

Anyway, everyone is managing well so far. I give you Hachi (the Welsummer) and the new buff who is yet to have a name.

Thank you again!

 

[aart]

Great!