Warm boot recommendations please

[Sarah]

Sadly Hilda passed away last week after a very short illness. She was one of my original two hens supplied nearly three years ago when I first bought my Eglu. Now I am left with Hattie. I also have four ex-battery hens and tried to introduce one to Hattie after the Vet told me I shouldn't leave Hattie on her own. It was a disaster. The ex-battery hen started to attack Hattie so I got her out quick. Does anyone know if hens can happily live on their own? I'm sure that many Eglu owners must end up with just one hen and wondered what they did about it? Any advice or comments would be welcome. Thanks, Sarah.

[Eyren]

[i think this needs moving to the chicken forum - maybe a mod can help?]

 

Chickens are social animals and are generally very unhappy alone After Morag died, we had to get new friends for Migsy, as she was so lonely foraging in the garden by herself, she kept jumping up onto the living-room windowsill to see us!

 

However, introducing two established residents may not be the best solution - they might both want to claim the top spot in the pecking order, which can lead to aggression (as you found out!). I had no trouble introducing a couple of young bantams to my lone Speckledy - the only time she pecks them is if they try to take "her" treats It might have helped that I moved the eglu onto bark at the same time, so it was "new" territory for all three of them, but usually lone hens are too glad of the company to make much fuss...

 

Best of luck

 

Anne

[Cinnamon]

Hi Sarah,

I don't think hens do very well living on their own. They seem to be pretty social animals,who like a bit of company,so maybe you should think about gettina a couple more hens to keep her happy?

I say a couple rather than one as she may be coming to her end too (as you have had them a while - not to be morbid!),so when she pops off, you will have a nice established pair

Introducing 2 new ones to an exsisting hen should be easy enough I think.

 

See it as an escuse to go hen shopping

[buffie]

It's also better to introduce more than 1 for the reason that obviously she is dominant and it's not so easy to pick on 2 or 3 hens . They like to live in small groups so I would try adding 2 or 3 myself.

 

 

Good luck

 

BBx

[Sarah]

Thanks for both of your quick responses to my situation. The only problem I have with getting more hens is that not only would my husband divorce me (!!) but we are possibly moving home in a few months and downsizing therefore ending up with a smaller garden. I just got back from work to find Hattie inside the Eglu looking very glum. I've put another of the ex-batts (Brains) in with her & let them free range. So far so good, a bit of a stand off at first but to be expected I suppose. Not sure now whether I should expect them to both live happily ever after or consider taking Brains out this evening and introduce them slowly? Gosh, just as I thought I had cracked this hen keeping hobby, something else crops up to worry about!

[Eyren]

If they are OK by daylight, they should be fine overnight, when sleepiness makes them more docile, so I would leave Brains in there (fingers crossed!).

 

Sounds like you did the right thing, trying her with a different hen - they all have distinct personalities, so maybe the second one is a better match. Get them settled, and maybe you'll be able to amalgamate the flock if/when you move to new territory

[snaps]

Not sure if this is helpful as you have your extra problem of moving but when one of our original hens died we got two more on the general advice from these pages.

 

We got our new pair in the evening of the same day - or was it the next - anyway very soon after Chicken Licken died - and put them in a temporary shelter for the night. We let them forage together the next day and there was a bit of ganging up against Henny Penny, our original, but she sensibly kept her distance.

 

The worst bit was the first night they shared the eglu. Henny Penny, absolutely hated sharing, tried frantically and distressingly to escape from the run and in the end had to be posted in through the port hole when she was properly sleepy. But things got better quite quickly.

 

Lupin and Clover, our new ones, never got the hang of laying eggs in the eglu preferring to make a nest outside. Very sweetly Henny Penny also stopped using the eglu and shared their nest.

 

I do hope at least one of your exbats can get friendly - at least she can give Hattie some part time companionship perhaps?

[freak29]

yes, as peop;e have said i think it would be a case of introudicng 1 hen rather than 2 so its more equal on the front line, and putting them on new territory was a good idea...i'll remember that. A friend of mine introduced 2 new hens and after a couple of days it was evident the pecking order had definately changed. Best keep 'em happy, ey

[parmaviolet]

Yes introducing new hens can be a fraught experience (as we are finding out).

 

We picked up two ex battery girls a week ago and so far they are just about tolerating each other. The people at the BHWT suggested we take two (rather than the one extra I initially wanted) so that the two new ones would not be bullied so badly by the established girls(June and Miss Audrey).

 

Well, it hasn't quite worked out that way. Emmylou (new girl) pecks and chases Mini-Pearl (other new girl) more than June and Audrey do

 

Luckily these are just little nips and so far no damage has been done. At least Mini has the sense to try to keep out of the way of the others, but I'm a bit worried that this will lead to her being isolated.

 

I've got 3 water & food stations on the go around the garden. For the past week I've had to stay at home all day listening out for sqawks and running out into the garden to step in if it gets too rough. I haven't even gone out for a paper or milk. Thank goodness Os can be trusted with the weekly shopping.

 

At night the two new ones are sleeping in large rabbit hutch. I'm hoping to get them all in the eglu & run by the end of the week. Looks like we'll have to order an extension for the run, if I ever want to leave the house.

 

It's awful seeing June and Audrey (who were mummys little darlings) turn into grumpy bullies, I've even had thoughts of chicken pie (shades of Mrs Tweedy from chicken run!) for the both of them but I'm going to keep at it & I'll keep you posted.

[Sarah]

Thanks so much everyone for your messages of support and advice. Latest update......just as I thought everything was going ok, Hattie starts to attack Brains just as I had set the ironing board up on the patio so that I could monitor their progress. Call me an old softy but there is no way that I can accept the sound of a hen yelping in agony so I pulled Brains out and reunited her with her ex-batt mates and now Hattie is one again. Have talked to hubbie this evening and also e-mailed Vet for further advice but really think you guys are right and that the only solution for this is to get another hen. I've got a lovely free range poultry farm near me who I intend to talk to tomorrow and see who they have available to be Hattie's new friend. So much for not getting anymore hens!! I've got stomach ache this evening from worrying about this situation all day and am just about to have a glass of wine to wind down! I'm still crying over the loss of Hilda........ Thanks again for all of your help and stories. S x

[Eyren]

Hope all goes well - if you've already got 5 chickens, I can't see that your OH can really object to just one more, especially if it helps to keep the peace!

 

Good luck!

 

Anne

[cheeky chickens]

First of all I 'm sorry you lost one of your chickens

But if your worried your chicken will be lonley, you could hang a mirror in your run.This makes the chicken think other chickens are there!

( Also most pet shops sell them! )

[chocchick]

My thoughts are:

Is she actually being hurt by the attacks, and are they just in the omlet run as that is a small space and will increase aggressiveness. We let the chickens onto the lawn as there was a big area and Katy could run away to safety.

 

A young chicken that wasn't laying, or a small chicken may more happily take bottom position in the pecking order. When we added Beth to the other 2 who weren't laying she started laying immediately and took charge

 

Hope you feel better about it soon.

[Penny]

Hi there - the same thing happened to me. I got two new chickens, but they were quite a bit younger than my surviving chicken and a bit smaller. I thought it would mean that they were less likely to gang up on her. In the end, it was her who terrorised them! There was about 10 days of mayhem but the good news is they now happily ever after and potter around together.

[chocchick]

When we added Beth the 2 "old" chickens screamed and tried to peck her, then after a night together they were terrified of her and ran away(although in hindsight she was more mature as the only one laying)