How can I find my old pictures?

[chookydoos]

Hi,

 

I sadly lost my two year old last week.

Will my Miss , also two, get lonely?

I don't have the space or money to get another run to keep a new bird in, how wise is it to just put a new bird in with Miss ?

 

Thanks,

Lisa.

 

Peck-Peck RIP

Ping-Pong

[Egluntyne]

She will get lonely, so I'd get her a couple of companions.

 

Introducing two to one established hen is probably best.

 

Articles on managing intros **here**

[chelsea]

I agree with the above. Chickens do better with company and getting another two to add to your lone chicken will ensure if you sadly lost another hen you would still have the remaining two.

 

As mentioned I would take a peep at the introductions section for tips & advice.

[Ginfiend]

Just replied to your other post! (Sorry don't know how to put a link in)

 

We were in the same boat - not enough space or money to have separate runs or eglus during the introduction period. We just made a bamboo cane divider threaded through the bars of the run and split the existing run into 2. And had food and water in each.

 

The plan was to keep them separated during the first day, put Doris (established chicken) to bed in the eglu and when she was drowsy, put the other 2 in with her. As it happened, they charged the divider and were roaming together within a matter of hours of arriving!

 

I would get 2 though - apparently, the existing chicken won't know who to pick on if there are 2 new ones, whereas a solitary new chicken is an easy target.

 

I was really worried about it, but it went very smoothly. If they had bickered, I was just going to pop the new ones in a box and bring them in overnight, and keep the bamboo wall in place until they settled down. But we didn't need to worry about it in the end.

 

I'd give it a go with 2, it was a lot easier than we expected and no extra runs needed!

[chookydoos]

Thanks guys.

 

I think she is a bit lonely, as everytime I go near the back door she goes mad and she was making a lot of noise yesterday.

 

If I get another two birds will they not pick on the established Ping-Pong? Mind you she's quite bossy so maybe not!

 

Peck-Peck was a , would you recommend another two of those or maybe one and something different? I was thinking perhaps a Sussex. The children like Silkies.

 

Does anyone have a good place where I can take a look at some chooks in Surrey, I'm in Reigate.

 

Thanks,

Lisa.

[Ginfiend]

 

If I get another two birds will they not pick on the established Ping-Pong?

 

Lisa.

 

Our new pair are younger than Doris - and that seems to help. They've not ganged up on Doris at all - she is definitely boss and can handle the pair of them easily!

 

[Charlielou]

Hi Lisa, I was just wondering how you got on with your dilema? Did you get two new chickens in the end? I have the same problem, we had our Miss Pepperpot, Gertrude and gingernut ranger, Mildred (best of friends) for 2 years and then sadly Gertrude passed away last weekend. We felt so awfall for poor Mildred being on her own that we got her two new young friends this weekend thinking we were doing the best for her. It turns out the 2 new ones are terrible bullies and terrorise poor Mildred who is completely petrified of them. She spends the whole time hiding from them and they just randomly go over and attack her for no reason. I would just like to know if you did get two new ones, how it went introducing 2 new to your orignal 1? I hope it went smoothly

[chickyhazel]

We have introduced 1 to 1 in the past and one of the chickens picked on the other one very badly. two to 1 intros are better.

[MadAboutChooks]

Hi There, I also live in Surrey, and there is a place on the internet

http://www.coopedup.co.uk/page14.htm#55748]

I think that they are not too far from you. I have not been there personally, although I was going to get some chooks from them then had an offer closer.

Good luck with your Intro's. I am in the process of Introducing 3 new chooks with 3 original chooks. week 3 and things are going well.

 

[juliathistleton]

Hi, so sorry to hear about your chook.

 

The same thing happened to us about 3 weeks or so ago, we were heartbroken! Mavis, our remaining pepperpot, was really missing Ermintrude and became really noisy and fretful and was breaking our hearts all over again seeing her in such a tizzy. Being a total newbie to introducing chickens, we just picked 2 new birds from a very nice place in Fetcham, nr Leatherhead. Didn't even think that they wouldn't get on! Well of course they hated each other, Mavis, who was always no. 2, suddenly became 'attack chicken' and would just bash the poor things in the head, even when they were crouched 'ever so umble' on the floor! All the tips said introduce them into the coop at night - we did it in the day, and just about every other tip we managed to get completely wrong as well! We ended up frantically buiding a new run outof chicken wire and wood, so that we could go to work the next day without the new ones being hurt in our absence. For about a week we really thought we had done the wrong thing. We tried all the tips we could find but nothing seemed to work, but happily after about 2 weeks Mavis started to cuddle up to them at night, then she let them eat out of her feeder, then she started to follow them round the garden and sunbathe with them. Now they are the best of friends, my cobbled together emergency run is now a fruit cage and we are even considering a cube and even more chickens!

 

It certainly felt like the longest 3 weeks ever, thinking that we had made a huge mistake and had upset our sad Mavis even more, and had caused two young chickens to be bullied and pecked, but I can assure you that Mavis, Bluebell and Dot have now become a family just like we hoped.

 

I hope it works better for you,and here's the link to the place I got my new chickens, Southmead Poultry, http://www.southmead.dsl.pipex.com

 

Good luck

[Chook n Boo Mum]

HI Lisa,

 

I got my girls from http://www.goldenvalleypoultry.co.uk/?gclid=CPbI99XCyaECFVBc4wodsQPreQ they are just south of Guildford I think off the Hindhead road, though they are closed until Friday so the website says Lovely people & lovely birds

 

I meet a friend from Reigate in Guildford, though I have no idea how long it takes her to get there

 

I'd go with the 2 newbies scenario, as you can see every intro is different and you need to be prepared to take the chooks lead, ie divide as necessary. Try asking on freecycle for a rabbit hutch as a temporary home for the newbies

 

Good luck

 

Sha x

[darthwenger]

We had the same dilemma when one of ours died just after getting them. She was so lonely on her own so we bought another and tried to divide the Eglu but our original chook burst through it.

 

We ended up using a large dog cage that we had and put it next door for a couple of days and then started letting them free range. Within 9 days we introduced her at night and the next morning they popped out together no problems.

 

I'd def introduce 2 chooks next time as a couple have mentioned - one new chook makes an easy target. We were surprised how violent chooks can be to one another but a few posters gave me a advice that it would settle down and it did. They have to sort out who is top chook, once they do there will be no problems.