Worried mother Hen....integrating.

[Cmumford]

I am worried about this single hen that I have grown very attached to. She is the only one that survived out of a batch of hatchlings. She has been in the coop in a cage and she has been roosting In that cage for months. Tonight is the first night I removed the cage and let her go into the roost with the other hens. They are still pecking her regualarly even though I have been integrating them with the exception of at night. I just checked on her and instead on being in the roost with the others she is in the run where her cage was. Should I be worried? I assume it will take a little time maybe days for her to go roost with the others but as I said I am just the worried mother hen. Any advice or priece of mind would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Mrs. K]

you might set her on the roost after dark. She and the others will wake up together, and a lot of time that will be it. Especially if they have been doing ok during the day.

 

[Hen Pen Jem]

It is a lot harder to integrate one hen as opposed to two or more. However, it can be done. Of course she will be at the bottom of the pecking order till some newbies come in. And yes, unfortunately the other hens will be pecking her to let her know where she stands. I try not to interfere, unless they are drawing blood. Sometimes I will stand at the door and observe them. I will say in a soft tone, "No-no-o-o, no peck", "Be good girls!". They seem to understand me or my tone. The hens will look at me and sort of grumble. Then, I will pet the newbie, and say, "Oh, look...she is a good girl, so be nice." I ask them to all sit down and I'll say, "it's time to go night-night". And, it is so funny, cause they all settle down and sit quietly. Then, I close the door and listen for any disturbances. Nope...it's all quiet in the coop tonight. Whew! Glad that's over. Well, tomorrow it will start all over again. LOL!

See, your not the only mama hen! Ha-ha-ha!

 

[Cmumford]

That makes me feel better. It is so hard because I have grown so attached to her and my husband thinks I am I a little obbsessed with her (and I might be ) but I do all those things u mentioned too. Thanks for the piece of mind.

 

[chickens really]

Hello...How big is the Coop?..Can you set up an extra roost?..I have a Hen that hates the nightly roost shuffle so sleeps on one I made..Its a 2x4 nailed to a couple of tree stumps..About 2 feet high..The worst thing is to put human emotions on Chickens...She knows Chicken talk and will try her best to fit in and stay away from the top Birds...

 

[Pork Pie]

I'd doubt there's too much to worry about. She will decide one fine evening that she prefers to be with the others. Don't rush it, let her do it in her own good time.

This link may be interesting -
http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/introducing-a-single-hen-to-an-existing-flock

 

[aart]

Size of coop and length of roost, in feet by feet, would be good to know.
Pics added even better.
Number and age of birds needed also.

 

[Cmumford]

View attachment 1179376 View attachment 1179377 We have 2 roosters and 11 hens (including Baby). Breeds vary, oldest is roughly 2 yrs and Baby is youngest but we are sure of her age as we got her from someone else who didn’t have the time to invest with her. But we have had her for I would say at least 2 and a half months now and she was young when we got her. I have attached two pics of the roosting area. Three roosting polls in the one corner (2 ft, 3 ft, and 4 ft in length) then we have polls in front of the laying boxes each about 4.5 ft long and one board at the very bottom same length that they would use when they were very young. We are getting ready to re work and move the boxes to the outside and grant more true roosting space. Right now we have a light that stays on in there at night at help with laying since the days are shorter. I suggested to my husband we turn that off after I put them all to roost but he said to leave it on. And if anyone has an idea of what breed Baby is please let me know. I have attached a pic of her as well.

 

[chickens really]

That's a lot of nest boxes...For 10 Hens only 4 are needed and they might not use one?...I use 2x4s flat side up as roosts and sorry...I for one never listen to my Husband.....I trained him well....

 

[Cmumford]

Yeah we are going to revamp down to 4 boxes. Put them on the back wall so I can reach them from the outside. I usually don’t listen to him either. Lol!!!