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

[Nats]

We have four chickens at 2 years old. One is poorly and if she dies we would like to introduce two more at point of lay.

 

Will the older hens accept the new hens or might there be issues?

 

Is it easier to introduce point of lay hens in an established group?

 

Thanks

[Egluntyne]

Some advice **here** from the FAQ section.

[finger lickin good]

We are currently introducing 7 new hens ranging from 13wks to 21wks to our existing 3 who are 2. We read all the advice on this site but us being us are quite impatient and can't wait to see them all together. So on day 2 we decided to let them all run around together (we have an electric fenced area approx 40sqm and leave the eglu run and cube run open all the time) and let them decide where to sleep. I was expecting a real cafuffle with the old and new hens but it seems to have gone suprisingly well, there is the odd bit of pecking if the newbies go too close to the oldies but nothing particulary nasty.

 

As the days go on they are getting on better and better, one of the newbies even laid an egg with one of the oldies at the same time. Think we are going to give them another week and try them all in the same house.

 

I think when introducing them you just have to see how they react to each other and do what you feel they can cope with they will soon sort a pecking order out and as long as they all get food and water should be fine.

[Darren Beaumont]

I successfully intergrated two pairs of hens 'the omlet way' using the advice in the link above. I went from older hens trying to kill the new hens on day one to happily living together in three an a half weeks. There were times when I thought they would never get on but it paid off in the end. Slowly is the key.