Eglu Cube Coop and Accessories

[squiggin]

Hi,

I'm after some advice as I've only had hens a couple of months and am not sure what to do. I started with 3 hens which all seemed to get on well with a clear pecking order which they seemed to sort out quite amicably between themselves. Then 2 weeks ago mr fox managed to pull their eglu run apart (it was a 2nd hand one - teach me for being a cheapskate) and kill lulu who was top hen. He very nearly got Sisi (2nd in command) and she had the wound to show from it but my daughters hen Jessy seemed absolutely fine.

 

Since the attack Sisi went into shock understandably and though the vet said she'd be fine as it was a surface wound, for several days she would stand in the same spot in the run panting looking for mr fox. 2 weeks on and she seems much more herself but still quiet, not eating a lot and not laying. Jessy however has started pulling her own feathers out and seems very agitated when I get home and desperate to get out of the run. To make matters worse the other day I discovered mites in the house which have now been treated and seem to have gone for now.

 

I had been told I needed to replace lulu with 2 more and was waiting for Sisi to be completely better before I did this but now I'm worried Jessy is getting either bored or stressed because she feels she's on her own as Sisi isn't really interacting with her much. So the q is when is the right time to replace? Could it just be the mites that are bothering Jessy (though Sisi doesn't seem to be bothered at all by them)? I am building a big WIR which should give them much more room to roam so was thinking of waiting till then but I don't want her to get more stressed.

Thx for any advice

[Plum]

How traumatic for you. I expect Sisi is anaemic after the red mite and her state made worse by the attack. I'd give her some tonic in the water or feed to help her pick up.

 

I wouldn't introduce more until they are both well. The standard eglu run probably isn't big enough for them to sort out the pecking order and would cause a lot of stress so I would wait for the run. Just what I would do.

[Egluntyne]

I agree. I'd get the poorly girl back to full health, and then do the intros when the WIR is up and running.

[Mercedes55]

I am sorry to hear about your dilemma, I do agree with the others that it's best to wait till things are more settled before introducing new hens though. I think we forget how territorial hens are and if they are already stressed then suddenly finding new hens in their run could really freak them out.

 

If you are going to get a WIR then a good idea would be to get one large enough to put the Eglu and run into that. Then when you get some new hens you could put them into the Eglu, which will be fox proof as it will have the security of being in the WIR and the new hens would be able to use the Eglu run and both lots of hens would be able to see each other and get used to each other that way