Single hen

[Bantambabe]

Hi everyone. I gained a "free to a good home" last weekend with the plan to include her with my 3 Light Sussex bantams. I know that it is hard to introduce one chicken to a flock and had lined up annother chook to go with her. I've kept her separate from mine this week, although they can see each other across the veg plot. I've let them free range together (supervised) a few times and the bantams are definitely above her and Lily (top banty) is definitely top chick.

She's a lovely natured and seems happy enough to be wherever they put her in the order.

BUT

the banties have stopped laying and have been staging a sit-in in the eglu. If I physically turf them out they will go into their run, but I have to shut the eglu door then to keep them out, which I don't like doing incase they do decide to lay. Prior to the arrival they were each laying 6 eggs a week.

Is this typical? Is it worth me persevering? I know there are a couple of people who are interested in taking her from me; a neighbour and Bertie McSquirty (who missed out on having her 'cos she was in NY when the original offer was made on here).

I feel that I could get through the sorting out the pecking order, but the unhappy and stroppy banties isn't something I'd expected.

Any one had similar problems? Do they get through it?

All advice gratefully received...

[Egluntyne]

They will get through it if you persevere.

[Cooks]

stick with it bantambabe, dont give in, I am in the same situation with intro's watching them sort out the pecking order breaks my heart, but as long as it's not nasty I wont intervene.

Let them stage their sit in, they'll get over it..

[eglutinie]

hi i'm new to omlet forum.

anyway we recently got a new chick.we knew like you did that she would be pecked a little bit but i was suprised that she was really getting pecked and i was getting a bit down.she was laying everyday that we had her .i wa sthinking we would have to get a new eglu and keep them separtatly.anyway after two weeks she began to not get pecked as much .now she's fine .the bantams seem to be causing you a bit of trouble bit keep trying and it will pay of

 

good luck

[Olly]

I'd agree with the above, stick it out - my 'new intro' chicken came on 29th Dec, and she still gets mugged occasionally although yesterday I saw her dustbathing happily with the others - it takes weeks, but it works in the end. Slow is good!

[BERTIE MCSQUIRTY]

hi debs

 

i'll pm you in a minute

 

it took a good couple of weeks for mine to settle down in the pecking order if that helps.....i dont mind having her, i can possibly borrow a spare run etc, but wont find out til tomorrow, but yes i have got room.

[Bantambabe]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. We had another go at letting the girls mix today. The three banties seem to have synchronised their attacks and as Martha gets away from one, the next one has a go. I don't know whether the bantams all being sisters and identical has anything to do with it - Martha does stand out a bit being a .

I'll give it another week or so, but I'm at work Mon-Thurs so they aren't going to get much time to mingle in the afternoons/evenings.

I just can't believe how the banties are - I was worried about putting a larger bird in with them incase they were intimidated.

They just sit in the eglu giving me imperious looks and refusing point blank to lay eggs. OS did ask whether, if Martha went, they would lay 4 or 5 on one day to clear the backlog

[westleigh]

oh banties can hold thier own as i have seen for myself as for the backlog of eggs not sure

[Redwing]

What little madams! people at work think chickens are stupid but we know different, only dogs are more manipulative

 

Do try to stick with it, they will break

[Cooks]

Tasha can you come and tell Sugar off for me, she thinks she's in charge! the pecking little madam! she got scooted out the nestbox earlier because she was pecking at Flo whilst she practisced laying. I wasn't having it..

 

It's getting better though... I think..

[Redwing]

Will do. nothing can stand in the way of Flo - we all want to see what colour her eggs are going to be

[Cooks]

too right... although I definately think

[Woodcat]

hey

 

When we first got our two younger ones after one of our girls died our chickens through what can only be decided as a temper tantrum. They both ran up into the house and sat facing the back and refused to come out. They then proceded to attack us every time we went near the run. With our latest girl who i had to introduce on her own like yours they did much the same thing thankfully minus the attacking us part.

 

 

It's taken about a month of superviced free ranging everyday and then free ranging unsuperviced and she is finally in and sleeping with them. It really is worth perserving they will get over it eventually. It's really hard introing one chicken and about a week and a half in i had a week of beliving that there was no way this was going to work etc and then it did.

 

 

Good luck with your madams and their strop don't give up pm me if want to i've spent the last month or so doing what your doing so i know how you feel

 

Beth