Elderly cat breathing difficulties when purring

[jman2007]

Hi all

 

I need some help!!!

 

I got 2 new hens just over a week ago they are 15 weeks old.

 

I put them in my old eglu on their own so that they could see my other 2 hens in the cube and after 1 week I put them in together but over the last few days all they do is get picked on and hide in the the corner of the cube.

 

They will not come out of the cube in the morning as they are to scared.

 

Are they too young yet to be put together as they don't seem to stand up to the others at all.

 

I really need some help.

 

Thanks

[Falkor]

Take a look here viewtopic.php?f=42&t=25886 for guidance on introducing new hens.

 

The best advice I can give is take it SLOW. I have done two sets of introductions and have kept everyone in sight but seperate for at least three weeks before letting them free range together under close supervision. I think it was six maybe seven weeks before I put them in the cube at night to sleep together.

[Cooks]

I cant add anything to what Palmer says slow is best with intro's

[Egluntyne]

Wind back a step and keep the intros slow. At 15 weeks they are probably still a little young to stand up for themselves.

[poachedegg]

Having done 2 lots of introductions and am now on our 3rd lot, I also reiterate what the others have said......nice and slowly.

 

Good luck.

[ajayb]

We've had chooks for almost a year now and have added 3 newbies in Feb; 4 in June and 2 yesterday.The person we bought the first and most recent additions from comes from a long line of chicken breeders and he advised introducing the newbies directly into the coop on the first night, when all is calm. On both these occasions the newbies were 20 weeks plus, so we weren't too anxious about their ability to look after themselves. (I also took the precaution of dusting old and new birds with a small amount of mite powder so that they would smell the same - other people have recommended a spot of tea tree oil to me).

 

My middle set of introductions were around 15 weeks old and I considered them far too young to go in the coop with the older birds but I wanted them to imprint with the cube as their home from day 1. So, I got a large plastic storage box; removed the lid completely and raised it off the ground on wooden batons underneath the cube. I filled it with nesting material and put sunshade type tarpaulin all round the back and sides of the cube section of the run, so that the area was wind-proof, waterproof and dark. I added a branch across the run diagonally, leading from the door to the coop to the bottom of the run as I also noticed that not all of the young birds could cope with the idea of the ladder to begin with. Then I left the coop pop-hole open at night, although obviously making sure the run was securely closed. Maybe you could put your old eglu under the cube inside the run?

 

In this way - and in their own time - the new birds decided when they felt comfortable joining the older birds 'up top' (it probably took less than 2 weeks all told). I allowed them to free range together from day 2, with the newbies moving further and further from the run as each day passed until they eventually did everything together with the existing 'flock'. In my brief experience, I've noticed that there is always a pecking order and some hens will get a sharp peck from others until they learn their place and that this exists even within a group of birds that you buy together. We also got some ducks over the summer and the ducks and the hens went through the same 'ordering' behaviour for a few weeks, even though the ducks had separate sleeping arrangements and could escape to their pond.

 

I would definitely keep a closer eye on them for the first few weeks but I wouldn't worry too much!