Cube mk2 and WIR

[Al]

http://www.utilitygirl.co.uk/gallery/v/Chickens/New+Chicken/

 

Named Liza. She's very sweet. I bought her yesterday for £25 from New Swerdlowes Farm which is next door to Alan's Ark in Fulbourn, Cambridgeshire. Am I right in thinking that's expensive for a cross? Anyway, I wasn't prepared to search much or travel further to buy a chicken so I just paid it. Apparently she is a Legbar cross and so should lay blue eggs which is what I wanted.

 

At the moment she's terrified of the 3 Omlet chickens I've had for 3.5 months and she seems terrified of the outdoors too. This makes sense as she seems to have lived in a dark barn all her life so far. She is being bullied by the other chickens so I've shut Liza in the run so she can get used to her new home in peace. Meryl. Audrey and Nicole are being left to range outside the run in their paddock. I've put out separate food and water for them and even set up a nesting box in a corner under the trees. When I put them together Liza doesn't get any food or water so I'm trying this for today, Liza's also a lot smaller than my 3 established girls so she can't fight back very effectively.

 

Fingers crossed that things will get easier over the next few days. Oh, and I've found myself playing cockerel, as Liza comes to me for protection when she's being picked on. It's quite sweet but slightly strange...

[Egluntyne]

Introducing one hen to an established flock can be difficult. Do take it slowly won't you?

 

It is better to introduce two hens as any unwanted attention would be diluted.

 

Article about managing intros **here**

[Ain't Nobody Here]

She's very sweet . I hope your introduction goes smoothly - I know there have been a few people experiencing real difficulty introducing one new hen.

[Cinnamon]

Apparently she is a Legbar cross and so should lay blue eggs which is what I wanted.

 

 

Yes,she looks just like my new Columbine hens,who are about 18 weeks old.

 

Do take heed to what others have said,& go very,very slowly with the intros.

I am taking weeks over mine & I am introducing 4 new hens to my flock.

Introducing 1 is not ideal - hope all goes well.

[mrsallen08]

Hiya

She is a cutie! How old is she, she does seem quite small!

 

To help with the intros apparently if you put both sets of feed by the dividing net/fence when they all eat and see each other they will see there is no threat as all eating. Does that make sense? Thats how we started to introduce our chicks to est girls. What a few others have done is split the org, trio and pair their new bird together and go gradually like that.

 

Good luck!

[Egluntyne]

She looks like a grown up version of my new Hogwarts girls . They were 8 weeks old when I bought them and I think I paid £15 each. Or it might have been £12.

[ubereglu]

I think £25 was expensive. Mind you I only paid £9.50 for my lovely cream Legbar, but then she was only 9 weeks old.

[Al]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

 

Liza is at POL so I assume she's would be more expensive than younger birds. Maybe it also depends on where you are in the country...

 

Husband is working at home, keeping an eye on things. He will separate and reassess if there's trouble, but so far it seems to be ok. The older girls are just giving the new one a wide berth.

[jills]

Have had my new girl for 6 days now, and apart from the odd peck around food, they are freeranging quite happily together, so it can be done. In fact I think that Nessa and Thurza have forgotten that Hetty hasn't always been there!

Good luck.

[Al]

Update:

 

We've had Liza for 2 weeks now. She's had a few feathers pecked out and is still chased around a bit, but no blood has drawn since day 2 (when she had her comb pecked slightly poor thing) or injuries. Although she now gets much closer to the other hens than at the start, she's not yet integrated into the flock.

 

All the hens sleep together in the Eglu. Either I or my husband wake up at sunrise and let them out of the Eglu and run. Then they free range in the garden all day while one of us is in the house with the windows open in case of any 'warning' noises. We make sure Liza has some breakfast, lunch and dinner but have observed that she isn't being denied food by the others anyway.

 

At sunset I put Liza in the Eglu and close the Eglu door. Then I put the other chickens in the run and shut the run door. Only when it's quite dark and the hens are very dozy do I open the Eglu door for all the hens to get in bed quietly with Liza.

 

I've ordered some bumper bits from Wernlas and hopefully they will arrive soon. On Friday both my husband and I are supposed to be out of the house all afternoon for a work party. Normally we would leave the chickens in the run but I don't want to do that as Liza will be picked on more in a confined space. I might have to take her to the party with me and she would have to free range in my boss's garden for a few hours until sunset when I can tuck her up in bed in a catbox and drive her home at the end of the night. My husband warned me not to get too attached to the new chicken. I guess if I am considering taking her to a party with me it's too late for that...

[mrsallen08]

Hiya

Glad to hear that Lisa has settled in reasonably well. Have you ever tried to keep them all in the run together? You could always try that this week before party. They sound as though they are a lot better anyway.

Keep up the good work!