We have to mix flocks, probably in the next few hours.

[justusnak]

Wow, what a messy situation. If you intend to keep these hens, putting them in your coop, seperated by chicken wire is a good thing. Just leave them there for a few weeks...let them see each other...but not fight. Eventually they will mingle..there might be some pecking, but it will all settle down pretty quickly. If you plan on sending them back home....rake out the wet straw...and put some stall dry down...after you seal up the walls. Let that sit in there a few days...then rake/till it in...add more stall dry...then fresh straw. The old wet straw will mold fast, and cause health problems for the flock. Good luck on whatever you decide.

 

[greginshasta]

I'd never heard of stall dry, but a quick google search gives me an idea about what this is. But I'm not seeing any prices. Have any idea what this stuff costs?

And yes, I'm hoping to return them - it will be better neighbor relations to do so. It shouldn't take that much to close up the shed and so long as the dry stall doesn't cost a fortune, I'd prefer to do that than have them crowded in with mine. I really didn't build coop or run to handle this many hens at this time.

 

[justusnak]

Wow, I dont know what it cost....I bought a 50 pound bag..last spring! I still have some left. Also, stall fresh....sweet PDZ....those will help as well. Just ask around at your local feed store..im sure they can point you in the right direction. I dont think it was too expencive tho. Good luck ...and I hope your neighbor heals fast...and repays you for all the great work you are doing to keep thier hens healthy and happy!

 

[unionwirewoman]

Glad to see that there are some people out there willing to help others , chicken and human . All I can say is go with the flow . Nature will always be nature , you can't control it (although some people will try ) . Put the new ones in there , see how it goes and get rid of the ones that don't work . I've done this with horses plenty of times . Sometimes you think they're gonna kill each other , but in the end it all works out . That's why they call it "establishing a pecking order " . Hell , even us humans have it !!

 

[HenHaven]

My coop is basically chicken wire on a wood frame. For the last 2 years, I've used 3-4 mil, plastic sheeting and a staple gun to create a cozy, draft-free coop.

You are a great neighbor. Are you still having that extreme weather?

 

[CarriBrown]

Greg- How are the girls doing?

 

[greginshasta]

it's interesting. we kept the neighbor hens penned up on their side of the coop today and allowed only the EE to come out after she layed her egg.

One of our SLW's just thrashed the EE in a show of "this is my coop and don't you EVER forget it" force. I grabbed the EE and put her back with her flock.

 

[eggchel]

GreenMulberry gave you good advice....... when you mix the group, you should put all of the new birds in at the same time. It keeps any one bird from being beat up too badly. There will always be a renegotiation of the pecking order when the flock members are changed, but they will settle down.

 

[greginshasta]

Well, all 6 have been in one end of the coop, visible but not accessible. We just moved their BO into the common area to see how she gets along and it's ok at the moment.

Unfortunately, the neighbors decided to eat one of their eggs in the past couple hours.

This whole thing is bumming me out. I like the birds, and I like them over in their own dang coop.

 

[greginshasta]

ok, the egg eating (we figure they were stressed because of the move, confinement to a small space, etc.) pushed this over the edge.

After discovering that the straw was not as wet as it appeared to be the other night in the storm, we raked out the wet stuff and busted open a new bale. Then we gathered all of the used plywood necessary and screwed it to the walls to largely close up the shed. A piece of plastic sheeting was tacked over the door.

The neighbors chickens have returned home, ours are making happy noises, and I'm likely to sleep a lot better.