Smart Feeder - Light sensor values

[chickenmad]

Hello all

Just wanted some quick advise.

We currently have our two girls (black marans) they are very friendly and have been great layers despite the extreme weather conditions. We are now wanting to increase our brood and are looking at purchasing two light sussex hens.

What would you suggest is the best course of action for introducing them as they obviously need to establish a new pecking order? Do they need to be separated for a short while or just put them together immediately. We have invested in some spray to prevent pecking.

[Redwing]

They should be house separately completely away from the other hens for a week to ensure they dont have anything the others can catch

 

Then they need to be separate but in sight of the others for a while

 

Then they can be freeranged together

 

Then they can be combined

 

The time taken can be months or weeks depending on how things go

 

You can always go back a step if things go wrong but still dont be tempted to rush it

[chickenmad]

Thanks Tasha for your quick reply.

I was afraid that this would be the case. Unfortunately we don't have a huge amount of room, so unsure at the moment where we would house them. My Husband seems to think that we could put our existing girls in the shed for a few nights as they spend quite alot of time in their with him anyway. They are very comfortable and happy and we don't want to upset them in anyway..sounds very sad doesn't it! We are just so attached to our little darlings and they are great with our two young children. However we feel it is now time to increase our brood.

[Redwing]

If someone is there to oversee them then the existing chooks could live in the shed (in a car carrier at night or if its still this cold in a cat carrier in the house overnight then be around the shed or free ranging during the day while the new chooks get the existing hen set up

 

If no one is about to supervise I wouldnt risk it, perhaps your existing chicken run is able to be split so they can all have secure run time and just be bought it at night? (you would still need to get past the weeks isolation first though)

[chickenmad]

That sounds like good advise. I think I will try putting them in the shed and then introdcing our new girls to the coop. As my Husband is at home alot of the time, he can check on them regularly to make sure there are no real issues. Thanks.

[Redwing]

No problems, good luck with your new chickens

[Plum]

Haven't really got anything to add to Redwings advice just to say take a step back if things don't work and take your time. Some people have managed quick introductions but you can end up with nasty injuries.

Splitting the run is a good idea so they are near but safe.

 

Do you really keep your OH in the shed

[emchook]

Good luck with the potential newbies !

[Lewis]

Maybe have a look here too

 

Good luck!

[Milliechick]

Hi,

 

going to be doing the same thing in a few weeks, if you beat me to it let me know how you get on!

[chickenmad]

Hi Milliechick

Thanks for your post. I will indeed let you know how i get on. Good luck yourself.

The advise I had today from a friend at work was to just put them all in together and let them sort it out. This sounds like a recipe for disaster to me, I can see a few unwanted injuries occuring. I think I will separate them for as long as possible.

[beulah59]

Mine took it upon themselves to start mixing ... I was sleeping them separately and had just started to free range them together for a short while each day when I found an extra egg in the ex-batts nest box! It happened again next day so I put them in together from then on ... took a while for the LS to find their way to bed at night, so we used a torch for a couple of nights but they're all settled now. The ex--batts are definitely the bosses, though!

[Chook n Boo Mum]

I've had separate housing & runs for all my extra additions & have usually let them make their own decisions about when they were ready to take up full residence with the main flock. Some have taken only a few days others have taken weeks.......the Bufflings were into months and never wanted to mix with the big girls so are now living with their own little and not so little (in the case of the 2 boys) flocks & are much happier

 

My Pekin babies however all arrived within a few days of each other, were all the same very young age & were put together over night & have been fairly happy ever since......I was probably lucky though I added Blossom & Jasmine to their flock only after they'd FR together & shown signs of wanting to sleep over etc...perfect timing as I was going away for a few days & felt that Mum & Dad, the babysitters would prefer one less run to deal with

 

I know I am lucky enough to have the space to do the integrations at their speed rather than mine and am at home a lot of the time to oversee any spats.

 

Good luck with your new additions, and pictures are expected of course

 

Shax

[chickenmad]

Thanks guys for all your messages.

Today was the day...we now have our new girls. They are lovely, we are so pleased.

One of our existing girls has already squared up to them and been very vocal. We have them in separate pens during the day and they can see each other through the fencing.

At night our existing girls are happy in a makeshift home in my Husbands shed and the new girls are in the coop. They have settled really quickly.

Only time will tell how long it takes before we can free range them all together.

I think we may have a few feathers flying, but hopefully no blood drawn.

Will keep you all posted and I am hoping to add some pics of them all very soon.

[sadietoo]

My girls got together quicker than they should have done when Kipper broke through the temporary cane barrier i had put up when foxy came calling during the middle of the day..thank goodness they were shut in the run!!! they are still a bit wary of each other when free ranging but ok together in the run (actually that's not strictly true..Pansy (the newbie) is a little nervous still of Kipper although she isn't being aggressive at all...I actually kept my broody dog crate in the run cos Pansy liked to jump up there and get out of the way of Kipper and for those first introductions I can recommend a water pistol. Who says chickens are brainless...Kipper can see the super-soaker now at 30 yds!!!!

[chickenmad]

Hi,

 

going to be doing the same thing in a few weeks, if you beat me to it let me know how you get on!

 

Hi Milliechick

Just thought I would write and let you know how I got on with my introductions. We have been doing this slowly over the last 2 days and so far no major injuries. We separated them from our girls for the first week, but were still able to see each other. Our girls seem to be the dominent pair at the moment as they have been here the longest. They are sharing the coop at night which seems to be working out ok. We have had to break them up a couple of times though. I think after some adjustment they will get along. Our new girls are very timid unlike our old girls who wonder in and out of our kitchen with no problem at all. I'm sure before long they will have wondered what all the fuss was about.

Have you made your intoductions yet? Let me know how you get on. Nothing to worry about really. Obviously some do take longer than others, still very early days.

[Milliechick]

Hi chickenmad,

 

Thanks for letting me know, glad to hear things are going well. So how many have you now? And do they have names? We haven't got ours yet, hopefully getting them in a few weeks. One is going to be a Silkie, not sure what the other will be yet.

 

I shall let you know. Hope they carry on behaving!

[chickenmad]

Hi chickenmad,

 

Thanks for letting me know, glad to hear things are going well. So how many have you now? And do they have names? We haven't got ours yet, hopefully getting them in a few weeks. One is going to be a Silkie, not sure what the other will be yet.

 

I shall let you know. Hope they carry on behaving!

 

Thanks for your message. We now have 4, which is enough. My 2 young children named our chooks. Our two oldest girls (Black Marans) are called poach and scramble and our 2 new girls (Light Sussex) are called fry and omlette. LOL...

Good luck with the intro's in a few weeks. I would love to hear how you get on. Maybe some pics if you get chance. Have just posted some pics in the gallery..Our Beautiful Girls.