4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Mollystar]

Evil Chickens

 

I have given up on introducing my two new little girls to the exsisting 5 & cockeral after each night placing them in the cube only to find them bleeding yesterday plus refusing to come out of the cube.

 

Each moning I have placed them in a pen at the side of the cube but my brood are evil & wont accept them what ever......

 

 

 

So I've just ordered a for the new girls

 

Have any of you given up before?

[MadMitch]

I didn't give up. It took a good five weeks to get them to settle but I never had any major problems. I took it nice and slow following Egluntines instructions. I kept them in an Eglu alongside my cube for about 3 weeks first as they were a little younger than the others. Then I started to let them outside together during the day. Then after a couple of weeks they just followed the older ones to bed. There was an odd peck but nothing serious.

[Mollystar]

The odd peck I could cope with but my chickens did'nt give the girls any chance

 

Eh well

[Lydia]

Please don't give up. Having done many introductions I have concluded that there is no substitute for taking time. I keep them separate initially, then free range together, then divide up the main run before finally getting them all together. As MadMitch said it takes a few weeks.

 

Initially most chickens are very hostile to newcomers and it's not uncommon to go beyond the odd peck. It's just the way they are.

 

The spare eglu will help you a lot, especially if blood has been drawn (you'll need to separate them now otherwise your existing hens will just go for the blood).

[Mollystar]

Thanks guys

 

I think my new girls will go in the eglu untill they decide they want to move out & go in the cube with the others after supervised free ranging in the summer holidays, so for now they will be alone side the cube with the others, I don't think it has helped with it being a little crowded having them in the Cube & run although it has an extension.

[bronze]

I would divide the old girls into smaller groups then introduce the new ones to them. That way they're not outnumbered. If you take out the worst aggressors when you do it then then they will find it harder when they later get readded to the new group.

 

I hope that makes sense

[Louisdog]

I found success by removing the worst offenders into a spare house and run, letting the newby get settled in the main house with the banties, then every few days I'd reintroduce a single oldie back into the main run and see how she behaved. If she was nice then she stayed, if a bully, she went back into the spare run. It was a bit of a slow process but seemed to work nicely.

[chelsea]

I wouldnt give up just yet.

 

Time & patience is definitely key . We keep ours seperate for several weeks until all the flock are used to each other in the garden, even in their seperate runs. We alternate free ranging and sometimes when we are home switch runs - so that the new girls go in the old girls run for a scratch & sniff around and vice versa.

 

We then proceed with some seperate free ranging in flocks followed by some intergrated supervised free ranging. Free ranging them together rather than in one run ensures any attacks can be minimal as the bullied girls can run away.

 

Im sure it will all work out in the end.

[bronze]

Louisdog you said it sooo much better than me

[chocchick]

So with an extension you could fit in another hen Only joking

 

How old are they? Are they much younger-maybe being older would help. Also if they are much smaller in size it might not help.

You could use the eglu to keep the most evil ones out of the way and introduce back very slowly.

 

I thought cockerals were supposed to help in introductions Poor little hens. I felt very protective when I added little Megan and found she had victim stamped all over her (still does ) and even the other new chicken picked on her. No blood though

[abwsco]

I'm on my 3rd lot of intro's. First two I introduced went into the main coop of their own accord when we'd had them for twoish weeks. The second lot were younger so carried on sleeping in their own house for quite a while until they were relatively happy free ranging together. The newbies I got yesterday again are older than POL so I will just play it by ear. They are separate from and sleeping apart from the others for at least a week though. May try them free ranging together next weekend depending on how brave we feel.

[Egluntyne]

Why not try bumpa bits on all the aggressors?

[Mollystar]

Thanks again guys

 

The newbies are much ygounger than my brood so I think they can stick to the eglu when it arives for a while, either way having the eglu will be a big help.

 

My Boyfriend has made a make shift pen at the weekend, I was so greatful to him but must post some pictures of it soon, he will never make a carpenter but I'll give him 10/10 for effort

[Egluntyne]

How much younger are they?

[Louisdog]

That may work in your favour, it did for me. I had 4 originals (3 banties 1 full size), five new 13 week old banties (including a dutch who was teeny) and one new omlet chook.

 

The five newbies got used to the main house and run and were happy to accept Hazel the Omlet hen, who they accepted as boss.

 

Then when I introduced the four originals one by one, I was worried about their behavior but was reasonably confident that the young gang would not be too nasty as they were young and innocent.

 

It seemed to work for us anyway. So depending on exact numbers and ages of your birds, that may assist you with intro's.

[Mollystar]

I'm guessing the new ladies are 18 ish weeks, my old girls are around 24+ weeks now although only two laying

 

After the stress of this last few weeks I think introductions can wait until summer

[Egluntyne]

I don't blame you. If you put them where they can see and hear each other, you are part way there.

[Louisdog]

Ooh don't leave it until the summer, the sooner the better, especially since by the summer they will all be laying, and they might go off lay when you do the introductions!