Solving Omlet Smart Auto Door Timing Issues with Alexa Routines

[jackie45]

Hallo

I am new to the forum. I have had 3 chickens for 2 years,Amber,Bella and Charlotte .Amber died suddenly last Friday and the others were a bit quiet. Should I get another chick now or wait a bit?

[Roobaloo]

Hello & Welcome!

 

I would wait a bit. The fact they are quiet shows they are affected by the loss...introducing a new hen might cause too much stress. Wait until they perk up a bit.

 

Also, it's worth mentioning that it's not advisable to introduce one new hen to two established girls as they can be very aggressive to any newcomers and gang up on it.

[littlehenny]

Hi, I was in the same situation a couple of months ago and to be honest I only left it 3 days before getting two more. I kept them in a separate but adjacent run for a few days and the newbies slept in the shed in a cat box. I then let them free range together and apart from the odd peck things went pretty well. But I would agree that you should introduce two hens rather than one, because you will have a 'them' and 'us' situation going on for a while and your newbies will need company. Good luck, it'll be worth it

[4Clucks-minusOne]

I lost Roxy to a fox 3 weeks ago and decided to get 2 new girls. The 2 old ones have been really awful to the newbies who have a seperate run and temporary house next to the eglu/run.

 

Then on Saturday I lost Bella, again to a fox. Daisy will not stop pecking and chasing the others when they freerange and she won't let them in the eglu or run at all, so they are still living seperatly next to her.

[eggs]

I lost my Amber last year and Bertha suddendly a few weeks ago leaving just Sybil and Marge.

 

After a couple of days I bought a new small ark which I put in the girls area (fenced with 50m electric poultry netting) together with an adjoining run. I bought three new girls (Amber 2, Suki and Belle). I put them in the new ark and run for 10 days but put some treats along the edge of it for Sybil and Marge. There was a bit of running at the run and trying to peck at the new girls through the wire. On the 11th night I put the new girls into the house with the old girls but put extra food and water containers in the enclosure. It was pretty peaceful with only a small amount of chasing and pecking. Now, after five days they all eat their corn and meal worm treats together with no fuss.

 

Good luck with whatever you do.

[Fur 'n' Feathers]

If you're ready to go ahead with newbies don't feel you have to wait. Chickens are flock creatures and, apart from the issues of intros that are relevant at any time, there isn't an issue about grieving a particular mate. Chickens don't bond in the same way that humans do although they can have particular mates.

 

There's lots on intros on this site to help.

[Plum]

Hello Jackie, Do you know what caused Amber's death? If it was disease I would wait a bit to ensure the others are ok especially with them being a bit quiet.

[Mr Rhode Island Red]

I had the same problem.

 

However I introduced 1 new hen to an old flock of 5. This didn't go well.

The origional flock bullied her to insanity, and eventually death.

I recommend you introduce enough hens to make both sides even.

E.g.

You have 3 hens

One dies

So you're left with two

Introduce two to make things fair if any quarrelling starts

So now you have four happy hens!

[jackie45]

Thanks to everyone who gave me good advice about replacing Amber. We had a long think about it and this Saturday I hope to get 2 new POL girls. We are having to get another small coop but I hope that when(if) they are all friends they can bunk down in the eglu.

[Egluntyne]

Some advice on managing introductions **here**.