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

[Janey4]

I got four Ex Bats in Aug last year and was thrilled to bits with them!

Loved seeing how they have grown in both confidence and size and seeing them get their feathers back and take care over themselves (bless them and their preening and dust baths!!) has been such a lovely experience!!

 

However we lost Naomi C a while back now -she just dissapeared one day whilst free ranging and there was no clue to where she had gone and unfortunatly we lost Mary-Kate about a week ago -the smallest, poorest hen we had, who had just the biggest personality!

 

The two we are left with are looking great and have a lovely big are to roam in and are occasionally let out into the garden and onto the compost which they love, but im wondering if I should add to my 'flock' but I have a few questions??

 

1)Would I have to get older birds ie older then POL so they could defend themselves against the 'big girls' if bullying occured?

 

2)Would I be better getting ex bats again, or is this irrelavant?

 

3)I am torn between ex bats or a few 'different' hens -are there any breeds which dont mix or can be highly strung!? -I want to try and keep the hen house as calm as possible!!

 

Thanks in advance for your answers!!

[poachedegg]

Sorry to hear about your girls, but sounds like the other 2 are going great guns!

 

If it were me, as your girls sound like they are in good health, I would either go for 2 younger ie POL or 2 ex batts - however - either way you would need to have separate accomodation for introductions.

 

If you decided on more ex batts, they would need to be kept separate for longer until they regained their strength, before doing introductions - probably at least a month or so.

 

Here is an excellent article on introductions:

http://club.omlet.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=25886

 

[Space Chick]

I know that Hen Rehomers still need homes for their rescue on August 22nd.

 

Just a thought.......!!