unusual problem...?

[dovecanyon]

I have a little problem that seems kinda strange to me; I can’t seem to find any advice to address it. I received a beautiful little Ameraucana from my new friend yesterday. She is 3 weeks old. I took her good advice and introduced her to my three 2-week-old chicks in “neutral territory”. I made a temporary mini-run in the back yard and put them all in it. They all seemed to hit it off well after just a short time. I left them out as long as I could, until it started cooling off enough to need the brooder light. (a good couple of hours). When I put them into the brooder, everyone continued to seem ok. Now, the new girl and 2 of my original chicks are great friends, but my little BR is not happy. She is staying as far from the others as possible, and gets hysterical when they come near her. I have watched carefully, and there is no sign of any of the others being mean to her. I found this when searching:

It is generally not wise to introduce a single bird to an established flock. Being alone and new is a double disadvantage, and it isn’t fair to them. That being said, only introduce a single hen to an established flock if she’s the same size as them, and monitor the dynamics carefully

But the new girl isn’t the problem… one of my established chicks is so unhappy. BTW, the new chick is quite small, almost the same size as my original chicks.
Any ideas? Thanks for your help, you have all been so valuable to me many times already in my quest to learn how to be a good “chickie mama”.

(originally posted in Raising Baby Chicks)​

 

[Imp]

I think that they will work it out on their own. You could try two pens and mixing them up. Good luck

Imp

 

[henryetta]

Oh my goodness. I have just written you 2 pages lol, and had to deleate them because they were too confusing, even to me who wrote them

Sort of what i was trying to say was, do you best to get them close together while they're sleeping and then thought... i've never keep babies 'under the lamp' (my chickens hatched their own) so dont know if with the light they sleep snuggling or not. (i guess it's always light when your rasing babies?) I know i used to take my late hatchers (when the momies left the partially hatched eggs) and keep them warm in the house, but never used light because my hubby kept the house way too warm with the woodstove, so when it was dark for the birdies, they snuggled. (to think i kept um all alive that way,,geesh..many years ago before internet info) And then, i snuck the babies under mommi chickens a few days later,at night ,and never had a problem with that so dont really know.

So there ya go, a bunch of nuthin...lol i tried

 

[chookchick]

So they have only been together less than 24 hours? At such a young age, I can't imagine they'd not work it out in a couple of days--be patient! Give them stuff to do --a little chick scratch, branches they can perch on, sand to kick around, etc...The quote you have is regarding mature birds. Young ones are much more easy going.

 

[PunkinPeep]

I agree with Imp. If she doesn't stop freaking out by tomorrow night (though i think she will), i would put her and the new girl together, separate from the others for a few hours and see what they do. Then when you put them back with the others, the br will be in the IN crowd again.

~~chicken psychology~~

 

[dovecanyon]

PunkinPeep- thanks for that advice! I think it will work for my little Onyx. She is the sweetest, friendliest of my group, loves being held and spending alone-time with my son and I; while the others are ok with us but would rather we just leave them alone. I don't think I made it clear in my first post how upset she is... she is totally freaking out! I mean, she is just hysterical and I'm afraid she will end up hurting herself the way she is flapping around and banging into everything. Or else she is hiding in the farthest corner behind the feeder shivering while the other girls are settled in near the heat light. Yesterday I put her alone in a dog-carrier for most of the day, set it near a space heater so she would be warm. She was happy and quiet and seemed to prefer being alone. Unfortunately, I cannot build a coop just for her!!! So I will definitly try your idea today of putting her and the new girl (Jade) together for the day and see what happens when I mix them back up tonight. Cross your fingers and toes (and any other body parts you can think of). I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[PunkinPeep]

Quote:

I'll be watching.

 

[dovecanyon]

Okie Dokie... I think we are all going to live through the whole horrible ordeal!

The new girl and my little Onyx spent the day together in the large dog carrier. The first couple of hours were a little iffy, they spent most of it circling each other like a couple of bantam-weight boxers. (pun intended).

After a while they decided to pretend to just ignore each other, but they weren't fooling me (or each other for that matter).

Finally towards the end of the day they decided to give up and give in... around dinner time they were talking quietly and sitting at the same end of the crate, backs to each other. Not friends, but no longer enemies.

I put them back into the brooder about an hour ago, and things are not perfect, but certainly better than it was this morning. No hysterical banging around, although Onyx is still choosing to remain apart from the others.

I think now it is just a matter of time before she feels secure enough to join the others. Thank you so much for the good advice. I'm sure I'll be back again with another "emergency" before I finally get the hang of it enough to feel confident.

 

[PunkinPeep]

I'm so glad that worked! All that banging around definitely had to stop!

And i wouldn't look forward to learning everything you know to be independent of us too soon! We all need each other, and your emergencies can be references to help other people's emergencies, so bring it on any time.

I know i do!