Bit of advice needed

[Anonymous]

Hi new to this forum and joined to hopefully get some advice from the experts amongst you who have a lot more experience than me.
We have had 2 brown hens for the past 3 years that I bought from a local supplier when they were at point of lay. The girls have given absolutely no problems apart from the times they got into my borders and trashed them! Unfortunately they stopped laying 6 months ago but have been fine up until 2 weeks ago when one of them stopped eating and just seemed to want to sleep all day. Eventually she couldn't really move for herself and I did the unpleasant but necessary job of dispatching her.
Question is should I get a couple of new young hens and keep them with the surviving one or would there be too much of a fight between her and the newcomers?
Or will the one hen I have left be lonely by herself and welcome the company?
Keep the hens in an eglu with an additional 12foot by 6 foot run.

Many thanks.

 

[podstable]

Get her a pal--she will get lonely, she might go on for years yet. Ros

 

[victorias poultry]

Agree with Ros, hens are friendly birds and need company.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice - any tips for introducing the new younger hens? e.g. Do the anti peck sprays and powders on the market actually work?

 

[Marigold]

You don't need anti-peck sprays unless you have actually had problems with a hen being badly bullied. Get two point-of-lay pullets rather than one, then when your old one passes away you won't have the lonely hen problem again for a while and it'll be much easier to integrate two than one new one as they'll make friends with each other in the face of the inevitable bullying from your old hen. Separate the new ones from the old one for a week if you can, somewhere where they can see each other through wire and get to know each other a bit, and let the new ones get over the shock of moving home. Could you divide your run and make a temporary roosting box for the young ones, somewhere waterproof? Doesn't necessarily have to have a perch as it's only for a short time and ther's no problem with it being cold at night at the moment. Then when you think they're ready, go down when they've gone to bed and quietly pick up the new ones and put them in the eglu with the old hen so they roost together. Next day there will be a lot of chasing and squawking, watch out in case things get nasty and if they do, separate them again for a bit to give the new ones a break. It's good to provide more than one supply of food and water at first so they don't get bullied away from a single feeder or drinker.

 

[Anonymous]

Many thanks for all the advice so far, I have been in touch with a local supplier who has 4 breeds available at point of lay. These are Bluebells, Light Sussex, Blackrock and Maran - I intend buying 3 hens. Would you recommend buying all the same breed or a combination of breeds? And which breed is best for a back garden setup, the hens are mainly as pets for my 12 year old daughter with the eggs as an added benefit.

 

[Chuck]

I find there is slightly less risk if the breed/ colour is the same unless they have been reared together. I think the most important thing is to get three that have been living together.

 

[dawn]

Hi, I've just posted on a similar question so that may help.

When I introduced my two new ones recently I put them in a broody coop with it's own run, which I put within the general enclosure. The existing chickens could roam around it and were extremely interested, they spent most of their time nearby and didn't want to go out in the garden much.

After about 2 weeks I let the new ones out and watched carefully. I shan't say what my rooster did, but after he'd er introduced himself several times in quick succession the head hen did some periodic chasing and pecking and wing grabbing. One of the little ones spent the first day sitting down to the extent that I thought she was ill but I think she was just being submissive. As I said in my other post the head hen went broody and was isolated after a few days and things settled down completely.

Now they all get on without any real problems, head hen has the odd peck just to show she's in charge but she's in a terrible mood at present anyway as she's a frustrated broody when she's out with them. The rooster loves them, snuggles up to them at night, sits with them when they lay and breaks up fights.

I left the broody coop open for a few nights so the little ones could choose where to sleep and they went back in there, but after two nights I put them in with the others once it was dark and they went there on their own the next night and ever since. I also left two separate lots of water and food out until they'd totally settled in.

 

[Marigold]

Many thanks for all the advice so far, I have been in touch with a local supplier who has 4 breeds available at point of lay. These are Bluebells, Light Sussex, Blackrock and Maran - I intend buying 3 hens. Would you recommend buying all the same breed or a combination of breeds? And which breed is best for a back garden setup, the hens are mainly as pets for my 12 year old daughter with the eggs as an added benefit.

Since you say you have an Eglu, I wonder if you've thought how much room there will be for 4 hens including your old one?, Last winter I had 3 hybrid girls in my eglu and they were fine, even though one was a large bird, but there definitely wouldn't have been room for 4. Light Sussex and Marans are large birds when mature so I'd say a total of 3 would be better in your present housing. Also, re the Black Rocks - are these genuine Rocks, ie bred under license from the Scottish hatchery, or just similar hybrids? Black Rock is a sort of trade name for a type of much-copied hybrid, very hardy, excellent birds, and other similar crosses will probably be fine but should be called something like Bovans Nera if not actual certified Black Rocks. Of course if they are genuine, I'd say go for it, they're long-lived and very hardy.