who is in charge

[spireguy1]

I have three bantams all mixed breed a leghorn a light sussex and one i have not identified, however today my son came home with a ( full size ) chicken as she was the bully in her flock, the owner wanted rid. I tried to put her in the run with mine ,however the light susex showed her who was boss , so much so that i feered for her life and removed her.so she spent the day within close proximaty of the other birds but outside the run, tonight i put her back in and she is now roosting with the flock , however i am concerned that tomorrow the same will happen, my question is ? will she be accepted by the flock? and how long before she is safe to stay in the run?and thirdly . will i have to get rid of her as she will never be accepted?

 

[HEChicken]

First,

Second, there should always be a quarantine period before introducing new birds to one another. This is because there is no way to know that the new bird doesn't have an illness/disease that could potentially be passed onto your existing flock. Given that she has already been exposed to them, I wouldn't worry about it now but if you add any in the future, please quarantine for 30 days first.

Third, I would recommend you use the search function to learn all you can about integration. It can be difficult and time-consuming to integrate birds into established flocks. The best thing (IMO) is to never try to integrate just one into a flock as she doesn't have a "buddy". Would it be possible to get another from the original place as well?

Also, it would be best if they could see/hear one another without actual interaction for a few days. Is there any way you can put a wire wall in the coop/run to keep the new girl from physical harm, while allowing all of them to get used to one another?

Integration CAN happen but be prepared for it to take some time before she is accepted into the flock.

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

Well her coming into this new flock has her at the bottom of the pecking order right now. That could all change later and she may become the "bully" she was where she used to be from. They may turn on her and all three attack so don't leave her unless your able to check on them every once in a while.

Another thing...did you quarantine her first for 30 days? If not (if she has mites/diseases etc...) your flock can get sick. Sometimes the newby will be a carrier of such diseases and pass it along to your birds. Be very careful with that and watch for sicknesses.

 

[spireguy1]

thank you for your valued help. i will segragate her tomorrow and hope that she is ok in her solitude especialy at night and watch my flock closely for sighnes of illness. again thank you .

 

[HEChicken]

Its really too late to segregate, and since chickens are social creatures, I'd advise against segregating just one on her own - she will be very unhappy. The best thing at this point would be to either get another companion for her from her old flock (and segregate them in quarantine together), or to allow her in with your existing flock but give her the saftey of a dividing wire wall so that she can see and hear them (and they her) but not get hurt.