New chooks,,,,cut atmosphere with a knife!!

[Anonymous]

This is my first post here. Have had my two Rhode Island Reds since May,,,,there were 3 but one mysteriously died for no apparent reason a couple of months ago. My husband bought two new birds as a surprise yesterday. Not sure what breed they are yet but so beautiful......grey but such lovely colours on them too. Anyway what a stir!! My original two have been squawking and kicking up a right fuss. They have a nice chicken run which is fairly secure and 8 foot by 6. Hen house with two nest boxes and flat roof. The new grey chooks have been bullied but not pecked much and are currently constantly sat on top of the hen house roof for safety! They have ventured down a few times but have been chased round the run by the original two. I have taken to putting their feed and food treats in a separate dish on top of the hen house roof for now to ensure they get some food otherwise they get chased off. I take it all this will calm down in a few days???? Its weird coz when I checked on them at bed time one red and one grey and one red and one grey were squashed into the nesting boxes last night all cuddled up and today they treating each other like complete enemies! Any tips please?

 

[pebojuno]

Welcome to the forum - hopefully you'll find it useful

The chickens will take a while to sort out a new pecking order. It sounds like you are doing the right thing in making sure the new girls have access to food and water so things should hopefully settle down soon.

The fights usually look more brutal than they are but keep an eye out for any blood drawn as that can lead to bigger problems! The fact that they were snuggled up together last night is a good sign so fingers crossed it wont take too long for them to be a happy little flock again

Would love to see some photos of the new birds, perhaps someone can help you work out what breed they are.

- Pebojuno

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much for your encouragement. Yes I will go online in a bit and see if I can see what breed they may be. As you can see I am a new comer to all this but am very keen on getting things right for them. I'm not even sure how old they are but they look as big as the reds, the man at the farm shop said they would lay in about 3 weeks

 

[karlooben]

hi there , you would of been better of keeping them seprate for at least a week first so that they can get used to each other though a fence and that the new birds can get used to the new surroundings but sometimes that isnt always pratical for some people to do as not everyone has the space . the fighting wil settle down in time but yep the fights can look worse then what they are , at present i am trying to get my new ex batts with the big old girls and so far so good as they were seprated for almost 2 weeks but tomorw they will be in full time together wether they like it or not .

 

[victorias poultry]

Good luck with sorting the pecking order out, not nice to watch, but they do sort themselves out within a few days

 

[pebojuno]

I wonder how much of it is to do with what the chickens have been used to- our have always been bought up with different colours and breeds and have always been quite relaxed about meeting new birds - I know that some people experience a lot of trouble integrating breeds but we have never had too much hassle, perhaps because we have always kept a variety

 

[Anonymous]

Day 3

Thanks everyone, the Reds came from a shed full of just Reds so maybe that's why they see these new grey and one actually looks black (with dark green shiny bits on feathers) as big opposition. Once again they seemed to settle down and go to sleep in hen house last night but resumed their separated positions again today. With the new chooks on top of hen house and Reds on the ground in the run. Have separated them a bit today and currently have put the Reds in bottom see through section of empty guinea pig hutch. They were really pecking the new chooks today until one was cowering behind the other. I know I should not be so protective as no blood has been drawn (yet!). Not sure how long to leave the Reds in there I thought a couple of hours time out. It gives the new ones to have a dust bath and a relaxing drink in peace and quiet. Dividing the run would be tricky. Would let them free range but quite a small garden really about 40 foot long and width of house and the poo would make it unihabitable for us and the kids.

 

[ncotb]

they will eventually sort themselves out though if it gets serious remove the bully for a few days - in sight of the others - then reintroduce & hopefully peace will prevail. look forward to seeing pics of your birds!