jellied Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Flushed with success of having our first two hens less than two weeks and even though there's been no eggs we're thinking about getting another. We should have done the maths as we need about a dozen eggs a week so three birds is about right. Sounds like we'll need an extension bit for our Egglu but how do you add a new hen? If we wait much longer I get the feeling the new arrival needs to go into a separate place before being thrown in with the existing two. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..lay a little egg for me Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 We had to take one of our hens back to the farm as she was poorly and we were given a replacement. This was after we had had them for about 5 days. We did not need separate accommodation as they were still so new and had not finished sorting out the pecking order. Whether you would be so lucky at 2 weeks, I don't know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Some info **here** about managing intros. TBH I'd add 2 hens. One may find it hard going even though the hens you have already got have only been together for a couple of weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jellied Posted January 23, 2009 Author Share Posted January 23, 2009 MMMM - it is very tempting to get another pair. But we;ll need to do some garden alteration what ever happens. So I guess my real question is - can you add two hens in with two existing others and not get worried? Either with disease or simply fighting. Four hens would be a handful but probably not twice as much work, but double the eggs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Best to do it slowly as outlined in the article. A period of quarantine is useful too, to make sure that you are not introducing anything nasty to the existing pair. If you can loan another Eglu for a short while, it will make things easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jellied Posted June 1, 2011 Author Share Posted June 1, 2011 over 2 years later and it looks like one of our hens days are numbered. anyway - think i can get hold of a coop whilst any new birds settle in; my question is, can a standard Eglu house 3 birds without the need for the extension? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgieB Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I would say that if you keep them confined to the run for more than 3 hours a day then I would definitely get an extension. The standard run is tiny for 3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
