Lavenders_Blue Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 (edited) My neighbours across the road had, until recently, two hens. One sadly died a couple of months ago and they have kept the other hen on her own since then They are in the process of moving house, and whilst they are ferrying stuff between the two houses, I have been asked to keep an eye on the hen. The poor girl looks so lonely, and for the last week I have been figuring out the right way to ask if we could give a home to the hen, so she has some company of her own kind. However, today I was spared the awkwardness of asking for someone else's pet when there was a knock on the door and the neighbour asked if we could possibly give a home to her hen, as she is moving to an area plagued by urban foxes who have been killing the wild birds in her garden! She didn't want to move her hen there for it to end up as a fox's dinner, so could we have it Well, of course I had to think about it for about......... 3 seconds! So we are going to move her over to our garden, hopefully this evening. I also offered to buy her coop off her (a beautiful Forsham ark) which she has sold me for the princely sum of £50 so I am a happy, happy girl. Now...... the next question is, how do I introduce the new girl without my unruly mob killing her? Edited August 15, 2010 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarlettohara Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 How lovely and she came with her own accommodation - perfect Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 Wow! What luck! I would choose the quietest two of your existing flock and put them in with her. You will probably have to divide the run with canes or something, but hopefully you'll then be able to integrate her in with the rest of the flock as a pair or a trio. Others may come up with other ideas for you too. Tricia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 A chicken of fate. Congratulations, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lavenders_Blue Posted August 3, 2010 Author Share Posted August 3, 2010 HOORAY! That was my next question, is she a chicken of fate? Her move to our garden has had a temporary set back as the ark won't fit through our garden gate We are going to have to enlist the help of the next door neighbours and get it into their garden and over the fence Hopefully this will happen this evening. I will keep you posted! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted August 3, 2010 Share Posted August 3, 2010 HOORAY! That was my next question, is she a chicken of fate? Her move to our garden has had a temporary set back as the ark won't fit through our garden gate We are going to have to enlist the help of the next door neighbours and get it into their garden and over the fence Hopefully this will happen this evening. I will keep you posted! This is really scary. I've just had an almost identical conversation about the relocating of a chicken house with my new next door but one neighbour! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lavenders_Blue Posted August 3, 2010 Author Share Posted August 3, 2010 Spooky! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plum Posted August 3, 2010 Share Posted August 3, 2010 Just take it through the house. Congratulations Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lavenders_Blue Posted August 3, 2010 Author Share Posted August 3, 2010 Just take it through the house. I did think of that! But sadly it was also too wide for the front door. We have now manoeuvred it over the neighbour's fence and Lottie is residing in her new home. My girls didn't even seem to notice Lottie had arrived - they were too busy being terrified of the new ark which is currently in THEIR FAVOURITE dustbathing area I think there could be a bit of squaring up through the bars tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krysia Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 how is she doing today? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lavenders_Blue Posted August 4, 2010 Author Share Posted August 4, 2010 There is a lot of noise this morning! Just as I though there might be. Rosie seems to have had her nose (beak?) well and truly put out of joint, she is marching round the garden honking like a fog horn Bella is also being quite noisy, but is curious too. Queenie looks totally bemused by the new arrival and is just standing and staring through the wire at her. Dorothy is trying to dig in and Lottie is trying to dig out! I might pop Queenie in with Lottie later and see if they will make friends. Lottie is absolutely desperate to get out and meet the old girls - she has been on her own for a while so must be craving some company. I don't trust all of them with her this early on though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lavenders_Blue Posted August 15, 2010 Author Share Posted August 15, 2010 Today I decided to put Lottie in with my ex batts. She has been with us for nearly 2 weeks and has been in the run, separated by a chicken wire fence for most of that time. There was a lot of s"Ooops, word censored!"ping at the fence, as expected, at first. But no blood drawn as they couldn't get to each other. In the last few days the s"Ooops, word censored!"ping has reduced to almost nothing, so today I thought it would be worth FR them together to see how they got on. Well I needn't have feared for Lottie's safety My number 2 hen, Dorothy, immediately marched over to Lottie and picked a fight which I broke up before it got too nasty. Lottie then turned straight on Bella, my head hen, squared up to her and poor Bella immediately crouched and surrendered her position. That was it. All over in the blink of an eye. Lottie is now strutting round the run, busying herself with being important. The ex batts are busy keeping out of her way There is a lot of disgruntled squawking from Bella who is a bit miffed at losing her position, but too scared to go anywhere near Lottie. They have been in together for about 3 hours now, and thankfully no further dust-ups since I first put Lottie in with the others. I have been keeping a close eye on them just in case! It will be interesting to see what they do at bed-time. With any luck it won't be long before they are all firm friends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plum Posted August 15, 2010 Share Posted August 15, 2010 How funny, hope it lasts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarlettohara Posted August 15, 2010 Share Posted August 15, 2010 Brilliant it's great when it all goes right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jewels Posted August 15, 2010 Share Posted August 15, 2010 I think you have done the totally right thing letting them mix early. I have two hens I got from Omlet 2 years ago and I got two new girls, a white sussex and a blue caulder, last weekend and the lady breeder I brought them off said to keep them apart for a couple of hours and then to put them together, and to make sure they all went to bed in the same place from the very first night. She said if you keep them separated all you are doing is delaying what they will do anyway, find their natural pecking order. I was scared about introducing new hens as I only have one cube and run and extension area we built for them and no way of separating them and have read on the forum beforehand that you should keep them apart for a week and then slowly over the course of another week introduce them, but the lady breeder put my mind at rest and said to just get on with it (keeping a close eye on them naturally) and not mess about with separation for weeks, I am glad I did. There have been a few minor s"Ooops, word censored!"s as my head hen Georgina has made them aware she is "top dog" and my second head hen Josephine makes us laugh as when Georgina is around she will stick by her and "help " her put the newbies in their place but as soon as Georgina disappears to lay an egg Josephine will become the new girls best friend and happily scratch around with them and as soon as Georgina appears again she will rush back to her side and pretend she was never really near the new girls. Who ever said hens don't have characters!!! LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
