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

[Margalot]

Hello,

 

Thanks again for all your lovely posts re our sad loss yesterday. My OH wants to get another hen asap and get the flock back to 4 again (somehow 3 in a cube seem too few)

 

I have read all the info on introducing a new POL hen to the flock and are prepared to do this and take it slow. but I have a few worries?

 

1. Our Bonbon was a large bird A sussex star, and she had a twisted egg tube with egg stuck, the vet from what I can remember...(it was a bit of a blur), said anything could have caused it, falling, jumping, etc. I am now concerned that she may have twisted herself getting up the ladder to the cube? and dont want to risk putting another bird at risk, so am at a quandry as to what type of bird to get?

 

2. Are introductions successful? And will a lone bird be able to cope with it, I thought about getting 2, but we really didnt want more than 4 birds, and convincing my Oh will be hard.

 

3. Is there anyone near Swindon that could lend a run? I have a large secure dog crate (mostly plastic - ferplast) that would house the newbie but do not have a spare run.

 

Oh and by the way we had our first strange egg today, Found an egg in the run, really thin shell and some egg white and a membrane. Hope its not the start of another worry, I dont think I could cope with all the stress!

Michelle

[chelsea]

We originally had 2 hens - Sam & Ella, Sam died leaving a lone Ella and we then got 3 more hens to introduce to her. It went really well as Ella was on her own and there wasnt a gang to set upon the new girls and she immediately became top chook. I think introducing new hens to a flock of hens rather than introducing to 1 hen is much harder. I dont think you will have too many problems at all and your lone hen will feel much more happier amongst a new flock. There will be initial pecking, sorting out the pecking order so keep an eye on things.

 

If you are worried about the cube ladder could you possibly adapt the ladder somehow by putting something underneath (tree stump) or remove the ladder altogether and making your own wooden one?

[atsw]

I have read all the info on introducing a new POL hen to the flock and are prepared to do this and take it slow.

One thing to be aware of, most breeders will not sell you a single hen, not even if you can prove she won't be on her own.

 

I can't really advise on the introduction of a single hen to an existing flock, we've only done it the other way around (Tulip & Poe died, leaving Fifi on her own, so we got two new girls, bringing the total back to three). That was all very easy, Fifi is a very social bird and welcomed the new girls with open arms (wings?). Di and Anna just seemed to take their new surroundings in their stride and accepted Fifi as queen hen from the start.

 

Andrew

[chelsea]

Sorry , I have just realised from Andrew's reply that I've completely mis-read your post and answered it wrong.

 

I wouldnt recommend introducing one hen to a flock....it will get picked on and the old flock will make its life very difficult, stressful for the hen and you. I would go for another 2 hens and keep them seperate (housing & run) from the old girls for several weeks to ensure a happy gang together.

[Margalot]

Just been reconsidering things, had another chat with my OH and might leave it for a while

 

Then if anything happens to one of the others we can buy 2 new hens.

 

As you say life wouldnt be much fun for the lone newbie,

 

You never know, I might receive a chicken of fate from the chicken faries

 

I was a good chicken Mummy and loved Bon bon soooo much

Michelle x

[Olly]

If you've got the space, I'd get two new hens as it will be easier. However it is perfectly possible to introduce one new hen to three existing ones, you would need separate run accommodation during the day for a few weeks. A dog crate would be ok in my view, I bought a spare Eglu run and wired it to the side of the Cube but I would have used a dog crate if I could have found one.

 

There are Egluntine's tips on introductions somewhere on here (sorry can't find them at the moment) and if you follow them and take it slowly, it can work. I'm sorry to hear about Bon-Bon, but I wouldn't necessarily suspect the ladder, after all there are hundreds of Cube owners whose chickens use the ladder and this doesn't seem to be a commonly occurring problem.

[madchickenlady]

I am currently in the process of introducing one young pullet to my existing flock of five. It is possible, but does take a lot of time. My new chook is now safely free ranging with the others, and following the flock at a slight distance after 3 weeks. It will be several weeks more before I shut her in the run with the others, and perhaps a further week before she sleeps in the main coop (she currently sleeps in my greenhouse ) All in all, I'm expecting it to take between 6 and 8 weeks to fully integrate her. I know other people who do it a lot quicker, but I prefer this way as there is minimal pecking, and only a little chasing. You can introduce one hen to your flock, but it takes patience and time to do it with minimum stress