3.6m Omlet Chicken Run for sale, Brand New in Boxes, Milton Keynes (MK19)

[camilladyer]

Hi there,

 

I'm wondering if anyone can help me....

 

I had two chickens, but unfortunately one has died ( ) and so i've decided to replace her with a beautiful 19 week old chicken.

 

The only thing is, my existing pepperpot attacks her, especially when she goes to eat or drink.

 

I've had her a day, and the pepperpot does s"Ooops, word censored!" quite a bit with her, which is really distressing for me to see and I keep trying to get involved and split them up. The new chicken (May) is lovely and gentle, but does get very bullied and scared of my pepperpot (Cacao).

 

I've been told that it's just time, and I should leave them to it.

 

Does anyone have any advice/help?

 

THANK YOU!

 

Camilla

 

Edited May 6, 2010 by Guest

[Falkor]

Sorry to hear about you loss.

 

Regarding the newbie it might be best if you can keep her seperate from your existing hen for a little while so they can get used to eachother.

 

Others have split the eglu run in two using bamboo canes/weldmesh and placing the old hen in the eglu end and the newbie in the door end. Then you can either put them in the eglu together at night and whip newbie out early or you could but a cat basket in the eglu run.

[camilladyer]

Thanks for your help.

 

I'll have a think about what I can use.

 

At the moment, the newbie just hides in the eglu (and I have to let Cacao out of the run to let the newbie have something to eat/drink). It's just not nice to see, because they are both lovely chickens, it's just nature I suppose.

 

Do you have any idea how long this should last for?

 

If anyone else has any ideas/things they've done that were successful I would be really grateful.

 

Thanks again,

 

Camilla

[stoice]

Hi Camilla

 

There is a whole section in the '... about chickens' section about introducing hens. In particular this one but there are others too, like this one. As your new girl is still quite young and not up to defending herself I'd suggest maybe separating them, positioning more than one food and water station and slowly re-introduce them together over free ranging time where there's room to scarper! It's not nice to watch when they have a go at each other, needs to happen to a certain degree but you don't want any nasty injuries if your older girl gets carried away. Good luck

[chickyhazel]

I would split your run in half, have a food and water station each side, and keep them separate for a week. Put your pepperpot the eglu side give your newbie a cat carrier/rabbit hutch/etc. When they are put back together keep 2 food and water stations and expect some pecking so that a pecking order is established.

[chickyhazel]

You could also get another new chicken as a companion for your new chicken, let them have a couple of weeks together, then introduce them both. Two could stand up for each other.