piptiddlepip Posted August 10, 2008 Share Posted August 10, 2008 This may be a silly question, but I'm a total newbite to chook keeping. So please be gentle with me! Yesterday I brought home my 4 hybrid girls, Esma, Gytha, Magrat and Agnes. Two of them are ambers mostly, and the others some sort of speckly hybrid (ahem). Anyway, only one of them (Gytha) will come out of the nesting box to range in the run. The others seem to prefer hiding, and they don't seem to be eating or drinking. I don't know if I'm over-reacting, since they haven't even been here for 24 hours yet. But Gytha seems very confident and bossy (and a bit pecky, I saw her having a go at Esme this morning). Should I close the nest box off, or leave them to it until they find their feet? Gytha seems so confident I think she would happily free-range today while I sort out my tomatoes. Should I let her, or should I leave her in the run until they're more settled? Thanks in advance for any advice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted August 10, 2008 Share Posted August 10, 2008 I'd leave them in the run tbh and only intervene if things turn ugly. As long as she doesn't prevent the others from eating and drinking they should settle. The trouble with letting them out too early is that they don't yet know where home is, and you will have a heck of a job trying to catch her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jills Posted August 10, 2008 Share Posted August 10, 2008 My first two stayed in the nestbox of my cube for the first 24 hours. Eventually I took them out through the egg port and put them back in the run. Once they realised that's where the food was they were happy. I left them in for 5 days before letting them free range. That said, my latest addition, Hetty, is out free ranging today after only two days, but then she can follow the other two back home. In fact she's already found her way back and laid an egg this morning. What a little star! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piptiddlepip Posted August 10, 2008 Author Share Posted August 10, 2008 Well, it turned out that Gytha was keeping the other three from the food and water, so I commandeered two of the cats' earthenware bowls for food and water and put them in the roosting box bit. They stuffed their faces for a while but then it became obvious they were being badly bullied and pecked by Gytha. So I decided to try an experiment. I put Gytha in the run by herself for an hour and shut the other three in the roosting box bit. Then I reversed the roles, so Gytha is now on her own in the box and the others are ranging in the run. The other three seem to get on fine - no pecking, no fighting, no trouble at all when Gytha is not around. They're all happily eating out of the feeder together. It's obviously Gytha who's the main troublemaker! I'm hoping they will bond a little bit and stand up for themselves when I let her out again in half an hour. Sort of a "naughty step" for chickens, isn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancing cloud Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 As long as Gytha doesn't start singing the hedgehog song ... Give them a few days and they'll soon settle in, especially now they've found the food and water. My top-hen for the first couple of days was soon demoted and is now number 3 hen, so Gytha may not get things her own way for long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedusA Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 Please be reassured that things usually settle down in a few days. It might take 2-3 weeks before they are all good friends, but it is worth persevering and letting them sort out the pecking order for themselves. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piptiddlepip Posted August 11, 2008 Author Share Posted August 11, 2008 Things got worse. Much worse Gytha (now renamed Esme because she's so mean) started actually attacking the others. They didn't even need to be near her at the time. and the noise when she does it is phenomal. The other three are incredibly stressed. She was pulling their wings and doing all she could to hurt them - way beyond pecking. She's going back to the Chicken Man tonight and I'm sticking with the other three. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
