Avangalene Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 Just wondering what the best way is to add a new chicken to my three girls i have now ,there approx a year old and are ISA brown x warrens . I have just got a 6 week old Cream legbar and allthough i know she needs to get bigger before i put them together, i was wondering if there is a good way to do this ? Thankyou all for all ideas ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moochoo Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 There's some great info in the FAQ's section http://club.omlet.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25886 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeckyBoo Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 Hi there, yes have a look at the link, but goodness me, I think you're in for a bit of a time of it, a 6 weeks old versus three, year olds Is there no way you could get the 6 weeks old a similar aged friend so she can have some company whilst she's getting older? You're looking at about 10 weeks before you can put them together I would have thought - your existing 3 will be a nice little flock all on their own and will strongly resist any intruders. She'll need to be a similar size before you can put her to the others and that will mean a long time on her own, even if you put her where she can see them. I might be wrong, I'm no expert although I've done a few introductions and it takes a lot of time. Good luck, keep us updated how you get on! Mrs B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beach chick Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 wot Mrs B says really. I've just successfully integrated 4 x 14 week olds and 2 POLs with my 2 x 18mth old girls, but I guess it took a period of 5-6 weeks, and they are in quite a big space. the info on here is really useful so I would be guided by it. good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 Mrs B is right....your cream legbar will be very lonely whilst waitng to get big enough, and she will be seriously outnumbered when you do integrate her. I'd get her a couple of pals asap and then there will be safety in numbers when you merge them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NClaire Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 I totally agree that if you can get at least a couple more similar aged hens that would be advisable. I'm currently mixing 2 POL hens with 1 year old Goldline. A supplier advised me to only get 1 - that would have been a disaster - the two new girls are very nervous of the 1 year old - I am a week in, and I still can't mix them unsupervised. They have been sleeping together, but this has been difficult the last few days. Dh is currently dividing the run into 2 so that at least they can share the run, although separated by garden canes, but I think it will still be a few weeks before they are happy together. Lots of places won't sell 1 hen on her own, because of welfare issues associated with introducing 1 hen to an established flock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avangalene Posted July 10, 2008 Author Share Posted July 10, 2008 Will think about getting more . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...