arowland17 Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 We lost our hen at the beginning of the week, so bought a new point of lay to keep old Speckles company as she was crowing and searching for her friend all day long. She herself had been bullied at my mum's house, so we took her when our other hen died, and she was forced to stay in the house for about 3 days, then wasn't allowed to eat but after a week or so (with seperate food and water in the eglu for her) they were fine together and best friends. However our new little hen is having it bad - I tried the bamboo canes as suggested on here but somehow Speckles barged her way through them, managing to squeeze through 2 to attack. We then kicked speckles into the garden, so she free-ranged and pretty much ignored the new one all day, while the new girl had the eglu and run to herself. We thought now it's dusk to put them both together as we are out at work all day during the day so wanted to see how things went, and it seemed fine at first, the odd warning peck, but not too bad, until we went inside and Speckles kept attacking the new girl. the new girl wont go in the eglu or sit quietly, I think she's panicking and is running and pacing around the run, which I'm guessing annoys Speckles who goes and rips another feather out as soon as we leave them. We've put the new one in the eglu and shut the door so will wait until it's darker to let the other in and hope for the best. I'm a bit worried about tomorrow thouhg, should we just leave them to it? the place we bought them from said it was horrible to watch but they would settle eventually and just to leave them to it... I'm not confident to leave Speckles out all day free ranging, we've never had foxes but we dont let them out unless we're home... any suggestions welcome, we dont have another run or anything, I don't get how the hen got throguh the bamboos, we had them spaced 2 wires apart...maybe we need to tie them on... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tutti Frutti Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 Do you have a pet carrier? I'd put that in your run and your old girl in that with the door open and your new girl in the Eglu with the door closed and only open it once you have the run securely separated. Have you tried orange builder's netting? That's what we use to separate the WIR when introducing new girls. Failing that, can you get up at the crack of dawn to let them out whilst they're still sleepy? If so they might be OK together in the Eglu tonight... I just don't know, I'm of the "keep them separate for yonks" train of thought but others swear by putting them all in together and letting them get on with it Have you thought about separating them for quarantine purposes? Good luck, whatever happens... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arowland17 Posted July 11, 2010 Author Share Posted July 11, 2010 Thanks for that, been reading up on it and hoping speckles won't mind being put in eglu tonight when it's dark, then husband can let just her out at Dawn as he goes to work at 4.30, then I'll do an early morning trip to homebase for net or more bamboo and construct a secure barrier before work! Only prob I can foresee is speckles may want to lay but hoping a makeshift nest of straw in a small box will do, as that will be easier than swapping their ends of the run... It's so stressful!!! Thanks for advice on netting though, thinks that'll be easier to tie up than bamboo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bennett Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 I always put newbie chooks straight in. However i have a walk in run so the new girls always have plenty space to get away and seek a corner by themselves. This is not possible with the eglu so i would say if you can let them both free range together 2moro it would be good as they can both escape each other if they need to. I wouldnt keep them both in the run if you are not there to keep an eye. They should be fine at night together but they both need thier space during the day. Hope it goes better 2moro for you xxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
