Soggy run

[Chicken Shirl]

It's doing my heart good to read about your success with your intro's. I'm so glad for you all that things are going so well. Looking forward to the next episode, and the photo's.

[Fur 'n' Feathers]

Well, today they had 4 hours free-ranging (& we think the cats are getting used to the idea that they can look but don't touch! - aided by water pistol shots!!). We were at home today so it was great that the sun shone There was still the odd warning from Kilo, but there has not been any chasing. Here's what the state of play was towards the end of the afternoon:

 

 

The picture was taken after Aspro & Pitsi' visited the cube & Aspro decided to dust in the aubiose . The others then visited the cube for a few minutes. The picture conveys the atmosphere exactly.The hens then decided to wander out again without any threats having been issued by anyone

 

 

 

Because things seemed to be going well, we've put the newbies in with the hens in the cube tonight (gnawing of fingernails at this point ). It's all gone quiet

 

We get up before 6am so we'll extract the newbies from the cube as soon as the alarm goes.

[Plum]

That's a lovely sight. Well done with having a go at them sleeping together

[cluckingmad]

sounds like things are going well

Fingers crossed all is peace and tranquility come the morning

[Chicken Shirl]

That is a lovely tranquil picture there is no sense of tension at all. So tell me what happens now? will the newbies be in a seperate run as soon as they emerge in the morning? or will you give them a little time with the big girls to see what happens? Is it too soon for that, maybe I am jumping the gun.... I am always quoting what I have read I know, but they say that "Hens that wakeup together get along together" or am I being naive as usual.

[Plum]

Not heard that one. I'll tell them in the morning.

[Chicken Shirl]

Not heard that one. I'll tell them in the morning.

 

 

 

Don't be

 

Mine if information here in The Canary Islands.

[Fur 'n' Feathers]

Mmmm!!! Not sure about that one. Somehow the word "realism" comes to mind... do they stay together as they've got their beaks stuck into one another

 

No! ours will definately be separated each morning and put back together each night. Then, next weekend we'll free-range them again & see what the difference is

 

Couldn't resist having a little peek earlier.Kilo was in her usual position roosting in the hole of the nest area, only this time facing in.Pitsi' & Aspro were in front of her nearest the nest areaand Krasi was at the far end in her usual position.

 

There's loads of room in the cube isn't there

 

Mad dash tomorrow before they get tooalert.

[Chicken Shirl]

Mmmm!!! Not sure about that one. Somehow the word "realism" comes to mind... do they stay together as they've got their beaks stuck into one another

 

No! ours will definately be separated each morning and put back together each night. Then, next weekend we'll free-range them again & see what the difference is

 

Couldn't resist having a little peek earlier.Kilo was in her usual position roosting in the hole of the nest area, only this time facing in.Pitsi' & Aspro were in front of her nearest the nest areaand Krasi was at the far end in her usual position.

 

There's loads of room in the cube isn't there

 

Mad dash tomorrow before they get tooalert.

 

 

Lots of luck. They will be fine I'm sure.

[Fur 'n' Feathers]

Well, we were out at 5.50am this am and they were all calm and there were no signs of pecking or animosity.

 

We put the newbies back in the eglu. They were quite stunned as it was still dark(ish).

 

Same routine tonight then

[cluckingmad]

oh bless them, poor sleepy little souls! Glad it went well - after Nutmegs little incident the other week our babies are being kept well and truely separate from the hybrids for a while yet, at least till she's fully healed

 

tried to persuade Flo, Etty and Suzie to pop out and say hello yesterdya evening but they had already decided it was tiem for bed, so let them be

[Plum]

Home too late tonight no-one wanted to know me Put them together in cube though, seems to be going ok but I fish them out at 6.30 am. Not such an early riser as you Fur and Feathers

 

Poor little Nutmeg glad she's doing ok though

[Fur 'n' Feathers]

Well, all is quiet on the chicken front . They're in for the 3rd night together.

 

Funny thing is that Kilo is the one to watch when they're freeranging, whilst Krasi is the one likely to give a cursory peck in the cube. All a matter of boundaries we guess.

 

The newbies are becoming more bold now and follow the hens around at a distance, particularly Pitsi'. There were a couple of occasions in the hour we managed to give them today (finished early) when Pitsi, Aspro & Krasi were scratching around together! The newbies have started approaching us at times too!

 

Still wouldn't trust themin the run though. Slow & steady wins the race, so we're told.

[Plum]

Solved the problem of the early mornings and late nights waiting for the oldies to settle well before putting the others in.

 

I've made a divider for the cube roosting area so I can let the oldies trundle up to bed and go to their favourite place by the nest box. Put the divider in then let the littleies into the big girl run and they trundle up into the cube nice and safe.

 

I know its delaying introductions but they are still such babies and never stand up for themselves. Nights have been peaceful but Pigeon does peck them a couple of times to begin with. More tapping, I know because I have put my hand in the way and its nothing but I have peace of mind knowing I can take it really slowly and get some sleep.

 

Had them out in the garden for 20mins this morning and no problems they kept to different areas and no chasing but that is fine.

[Chicken Shirl]

Well done Plum. You must be a wizard at the old DIY Always amazes me what we women can do when we have to.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I'm totally confident leaving my lot all together now . Poor little Poppy still gets the occasional chase or slight peck but she's getting good at running away.

 

Last night was the first night I didn't have to put the babies into the eglu - they went in of their own accord .

[Plum]

Great news ANH, its a pain lifting them in isn't it.

[Fur 'n' Feathers]

Plum, ours are just a little behind yours it seems. We put the newbies in again tonight. Krasi is the one that gives pecks if we light the area for too long, but as soon as it's all dark again they seem to settle.

 

Hope we're doing the right thing. Wouldn't trust them together into daylight in the cube together. Will keep on with this regime & freerange them over the weekend to see the difference (if any).

 

We look forward to the day they're all integrated. It's particularly hard thinking of the early bit at the weekend as Feathers is struggling with recovering after shingles. Tiredness neuralgic symptoms & swinging malaise are not comfortable things.

 

We're assuming occasional pecks are okay. Guess they will happen a bit. Would be worried if they increase.

[Plum]

No I think we are the same. My cube run is divided so they have not been there together except by accident and I have had to rescue littleies. I have probably taken a step back putting a divider in the roosting area.

 

Am going to finish a bit early tomorrow so they can have an hour in the garden together.

 

Sorry to hear about feathers. Shingles is pretty rotten Get better soon Feathers.

 

It's comforting seeing how yours are doing.

[sjp]

I did my intros slightly different I've had the 3 youngsters free ranging with the big girls since they were 12 weeks old they were 10 when I got them both had they're own house and run which were not connected for about a month six weeks then i connected the runs so they had contact all day with mesh between them. I opened the great divide the door between the 2 runs mid September just before I let them out for they're evening FR. that passed without incident so the next day once they'd had breakfast and I'd got back from shopping I opened the great divide and left them to it. started the sleeping intros about 4 weeks later lifted the 3 into the big house 2 went without any bother one didn't not fun trying to catch a gold legbar in the dark the next night they slept in there own 'beds', the next I forced the issue by locking the 3 out of they're bedroom and helping them to go to bed did that for 2 nights till they got the idea. it was all peace and harmony for a week then it turn a little nasty the big girls started to throw there weight about cyclone patrols the perch big red guards the door pecks anything that enters cyclone pushes them off the perch that happens most nights until last weekend. It’s now settling down at bedtime and at treat time which was the only time it got nasty during the day

they've been living together 24 7 nearly a month now and they nearly look like one flock

that's my intro story hope it might help others with they're intros

[batcatz]

Yay, you are all nearly there! I like the divider idea.

 

Bianca is geting on great with Dotty and almost with Hetty.

 

I could put Bianca in the coop at night with Dotty and Hetty, but Lavender (might call her lucy) would be on her own at night and then it would be a seperate integration. Plus I still need to extend the run or fix the aviary. lol.

 

In aviary:

 

 

 

I started a new tactic yesterday. All 3 in cat run. Lavender in cat porch.

 

All good! Might be the pumpkin that distracted Dotty.

 

 

So today:

 

- Dotty and Bianca together in the cat run for the day.

- Hetty and Lavender together in the cat run safety port.

 

 

This caused lots of pecking through the wire between Dotty and Lavender. Dotty had neck feathers up and was pecking, jumping up at Lavender. Lavender was giving back as good as she got. No injuries due to wire inbetween, but I ended up putting a few obstacles in the way so they couldn't easily get to the boundary.

 

 

Also lavender and Bianca seem to get on better so need to put them together for longer periods until I feel as comfortable with that combination as I do with all the others.

 

Stage 3 will be Dotty and Lavender, then hopefully their accomodation will be ready. ETA December.

[Fur 'n' Feathers]

Thanks for your offering SJP. It's good to know that there's so many different ways to suit so many different situations.

 

Ours have been out for 3 hours this am freeranging. Still in pairs, but Pitsi' is moving between the 2 sets (unless she's threatened by Kilo ).

 

Aspro is the one that's not mixing so readily, but we think that might be because she's the least mature.

 

What is lovely is that the newbies are beginning to follow up on Kilo & Krasi racing up to us in the garden. When they see one of us they start to come nearer, but then skittle off again. It's so cute watching them develop & mature.

 

The newbies decided to take up residence in the hens' cube run late in the session & when the hens went in they were all in there together for a little while befor Kilo decided to mark her territory with a cursory peck at Pitsi'. We got the newbies out quickly (we were putting them back in their eglu run anyway0.

 

The cats are settling a bit as well. Must be the cold "showers"

[Plum]

Mine are about the same still. They have been out as you say in pairs but the little ones keep out of the way most of the time. Grackle is a lot more tolerant than Pigeon. She will give a tap if they are near or chase a bit (I am usually quick enough to stop her). Quite often now they walk past each other with no reaction.

 

Yesterday I got them all muddled when it came to bedtime and Eider ended up with Grackle. It was so cute she tried to snuggle underneath Grackle.

[Fur 'n' Feathers]

Yesterday I got them all muddled when it came to bedtime and Eider ended up with Grackle. It was so cute she tried to snuggle underneath Grackle.

 

That sounds sooo cute!

 

We've put a thread on about Pitsi' crouching, as she started yesterday. Think that's assisting her wanting to make a flock a bit. Also, Kilo's laid a crusty softee today, so she's well on the way to full laying again after her moult It's the hardest shell she's laid since she stopped in July. They've progressed from shell-less to paper to leather & now crackled . Must be that she's needing less calcium for feathering!

 

We could end up with going from 1 egg to 3/4 all in one go .

[cluckingmad]

well, our lot have also made some progress The four little ones aren't so little anymore (20wks now and as big as the hybrids), they all free range together with minimal squabbling, although the younger hens tend to stick together..

 

 

All the grils now peck at corn around the newbies run without any squaring up so on saturday we gritted our teeth and let Suzie, Flo and Etty out for some free range time with ALL the other girls - Suzie was immediately accepted by the littlies as one of their own (she's about their size), and went off with them for a forgage

 

Flo is the most gentle girl I have ever known - she's twice the size of the others and was lovely with the younger hens - there was a fair bit of pecking order related aggression from the hybrid girls, and Etty really went for it with some of them a few times Poor OH was horrified, and was getting very upset about it all, kept wanting to intervene and check each girl for any damage - was all I could do to hold him back and insist the girls had to sort out who was boss etc... today they all had some more time out together (only 30mins or so), only one squabble and it wasn't anything at all, just a warning bok really

 

We're planning some modifications to the WIR this week so am tempted to let the younger hens out in the WIR with the hybrids while we're there to make sure peace reigns..