two questions about my new hens...

[Cab]

We picked up two new hens on saturday. As this is only my second time integrating birds into an existing flock there are a couple of things I'm still working out. So I thout I might seek some opinions here, if that's okay with you lot.

Firstly, one of the new girls just isn't an outdoor chicken. Shes a cream legbar pol, and she seems in perfectly good health, wandering around fine, but really just wants to be indoors. This is a new one on me. Should I be kicking her out into the run? No sign of being egg bound, and she's coming out for food and water.

Second question is about integrating them. I have a big house and run for the four birds I already had, the new girls are in the adjacent old house and run which is smaller. They've already pretty much come to terms with the old boss chicken (a gentle old speckledy I got from a friend who has in her time integrated many new birds into her flock. More than me anyway!) And second in the pecking order, a Rhode rock, just doesn't seem to give a damn. The other two, a bluebell and a goldline, clearly feel more threatened. The goldline especially is squaring off against the new leghorn even through the wire. So is there an advantage in moving the two new girls in with the two top ranking girls who seem happier to accept them, in the bigger house, and when they're settled move the goldline and the bluebell back in with them?

I know sooner or later they'll have to sort their pecking order out for themselves of course. But introducing two to four, it seems to me I need to take care!

Thanks,

Cab.

 

[Marigold]

I would keep the new pair together and separated from the old ones for two weeks as a quarantine measure. During this time they will get to know each other and will form a pair of friends who will support each other when the time comes to join the older ones. The CLB obviously feels quite threatened at present if she is staying in the coop, nothing to do with being an 'indoor chicken' I think, and a couple of weeks for young pullets does give them time to grow on a bit and get more confident in new surroundings.
You could try staged introductions but I think this might just be prolonging the upset within the flock. After a couple of weeks, I would try the method of putting the new girls in the coop with the others after dark when they're all asleep, maybe with some vinegar or lavender water or similar strong- smelling stuff on all the chickens' wings, old and new, to make them all smell the same. Next day, be there early to see no blood is actually shed, provide multiple feed and water stations and places to hide, if possible let them all out in the garden to give maximum space, and at this time of year all should be well in a day or two. The breeding season is pretty well over so the hens will be becoming less territorial In any case as daylight declines, another reason for hanging on for a couple of weeks maybe.

 

[Cab]

Cheers Marigold.

I experimented with letting the old speckledy in with them - no problem at all. She's let the leghorn know who is in charge, the leghorn accepted it, sorted...

If I let anyone else near the leghorn then feathers get ruffled and they square up. She's absolutely confident she can take any one of the others. She's that kind of chicken

The legbar is properly nervous of the others - I briefly let them free range at opposite sides of the garden (I did this several times when introducing birds last time - it seemed to go well, the introduced themselves at their own pace and no one got too upset). The legbar wasn't interested - in fact the goldline and the bluebell seemed to tell that she was nervous and went after her. The leghorn, on the other hand, was constantly looking for trouble. So that experiment came to a very quick end indeed!

So I'm not especially worried about the leghorn - she'll be fine. She'll look after herself and come to a balance with the other girls. Its the legbar I'm concerned about I think.

Giving them some more time looking at each other can't hurt - especially if they get a bit less territorial! That seems sound advice there Marigold!

cheers,

Cab.

 

[Icemaiden]

Hi Cab.
I had a similar concern when introducing my Chalkhill Blue (also a Cream Legbar hybrid) to my existing flock. Of my three new pullets she was by far the smallest, & smaller than my ex-batts too. However, even with one clipped wing, she's had no trouble getting out of the way of the others; being the most agile it just doesn't seem to be a problem.

Make sure you've got several different levels for perching on in the run, be it a log end, plastic patio table, the roof of the coop &/or whatever you've got room for, & you should find that your cream legbar can keep out of harm's way. Ours even flew onto the green house roof a couple of times!
Do give them at least a couple of weeks within sight but out of reach of the others though, & resist the temptation to combine old & new hens too quickly. When you do the integration, the more distractions you can supply, the better. You can buy hanging peck blocks of wheat, corn & seeds (designed for caged birds, rabbits, hamsters etc.) which will keep the hens far too busy to have much time to fight. I hung a couple up in my run the night before the integration, & it worked like a charm!

 

[Cab]

Thanks Icemaiden.

I'm a big fan of having perches of different heights, with at least one good spot to sit out of pecking range of the ground. I also like a couple of 'round the corner' spots - I think hens like a bit of 'me' space sometimes, and its not so much about giving them ever more run as just places to keep occupied and out of the way.

The legbar isn't small - she's a good size for her age, but she's a softie. Always making the 'come and like me' noises. Whereas the leghorn is clearly a scrapper - she's a wee scrap of a thing but its just in her nature, or at least its looking like it so far.

Fingers crossed things will calm down in a week or two