What is your opinions on this?

[Johnn]

Some of my hens have been killed and i am planning on replcaing them next spring. Everyone says not to put a hen into the flock alone, but i agreed to have a hen off this woman come alone, so i am planning to get 2 other hens at the same time, would it be horrible putting all three in together when that one would still be a loner because the other two were friends? also would the loner get bullied more or would it be spread out between the three?

 

[DaphneNL]

I think your "loner" will get bullied if the other two hens already know each other. But you'll never know for sure until you try.
I placed an adopted hen with a group of hens and a rooster at night and the next morning she woke up in hell. The other hens were very mean, really biting her and leaving her stressed and scared. I then placed her immediately with another rooster and hen and they accepted her from the first moment, but I know that's not very common.

 

[Johnn]

I think your "loner" will get bullied if the other two hens already know each other. But you'll never know for sure until you try.
I placed an adopted hen with a group of hens and a rooster at night and the next morning she woke up in hell. The other hens were very mean, really biting her and leaving her stressed and scared. I then placed her immediately with another rooster and hen and they accepted her from the first moment, but I know that's not very common. 

Well I could Meby ask the woman if she wants to keep the hen coz the hen is mine who went live with her with her 15 chicks and I could just buy 3 hens from the same place

 

[DaphneNL]

That sounds like a good sollution, if your not too attached to your own hen.

 

[cafarmgirl]

I would go with buying the three hens from the same place. I've tried introducing just one new bird into a flock, we did it very slowly and carefully over a long period of time and it was still a nightmare, I'll never do it again.

 

[Johnn]

well to be honest, i have introduced one alone, and she really struggled for food etc and didn't start to lay untill her second year when she got higher in the pecking order. That is what has made me scared to do it again. I will consider asking if she would like to keep it but if not i have no option but to have her...

 

[rikithemonk]

Its safer to order hens from a hatchery. Raise them till they are similar in size, then introduce them. There is less chance of introducing disease to your existing birds.

Just a word of warning. Chickens are very cute, however they are not human. They are extremely violent with outsiders. When you introduce a new hen to a flock, you will be absolutely shocked by the behavior you will see. This is very normal. The absolutely worst thing you can do is pull the new bird/birds back out. This only reinforces the belief that the new birds are outsiders. This will drag things out much longer. Expect the prison yard violence to last longer than a week. This will not end in a day or two. Never introduce small birds. Wait until they are very close to the same size as the adults. Introduce several at once. especially if you have a very small enclosure for them. One bird in a small enclosure has nowhere to run when things get really bad.

Riki

 

[Kadjain]

Even though they are strangers being that all three are going to be placed into an existing flock they might band together. But still I would not just turn them loose in an existing flock. When I introduce new birds I put the new birds in a wire cage and then put that cage in the coop. I leave them in the wire cage (w food and water) for at least 24 hours so they can all meet without being able to actually get to each other. When it looks like they are use to the birds being in the cage and not making a big deal about it anymore I will open the cage door and let come out on their own. I don't just do this and expect the best, I always keep a close eye on the progress.

 

[Johnn]

mine dont have a coop, just a shed, woods and a huge field! I asked the woman if she would like to keep her and she is going to, I will rather be getting 2 ex batts or 2 POL pure breeds next year, also i will be keeping one chick off my hens next year

 

[Kadjain]

I see, you could still put them in a wire cage somewhere that they can all meet without the established flock being able to immediately run them down and beat/kill them. Getting some ex batts sounds cool, I've always wanted to rescue some of them, if I had a bigger place I would. What are POL pure breeds?