Mrs

[Mercedes55]

I have already posted some pics of the 4 very pretty pure breeds that we got today.

 

We had, we thought, divided the WIR so that our ex batts and the new girls would be kept separately. However just after the ex batts had gone off to bed this evening we could hear the new girls making a lot of chirping noises and went out to investigate. Somehow the Welsummer had got over the barrier, which was about 4ft high and was getting very stressed out as she obviously wanted to get back to the other side but didn't seem to know how.

 

OH had to go and pick her up and has ended up covered in scratches all down his arm and then had to try and get the other 3 girls into the Eglu. The Cream Legbar had other ideas and was jumping and climbing around and then the Lavender Araucana got out of the WIR and was in the flower border before we could stop her. The only girl that just sat very nicely was the Favorelle.

 

My question is can we expect this to be how these particular breeds behave or is it just because they are only 14wks old and a bit like a kitten or puppy that will settle down as they mature? The reason we are worried is that we don't want to stress out our ex batts too much and are also worried that once the new girls are let out into the garden they might be able to also get out of it and into neighbours gardens

[meezers]

Um, yes, that sounds about right I've got Faverolles, a Cream Legbar and a Welsummer, collected an Auracana today. The Welsummer is very nervy/timid, but acts like any other large fowl. The cream legbar is mad as a hatter- she can get up quite high, but I've had her over a year now and she rarely attempts to fly anymore . I remember last year she launched herself out of the run as I opened the door and would have gone straight over my shoulder if I hadn't caught her as she went past

The Faverolles are placid great lumps, mine never get off the ground- I think 18 inches is their limit, but they are very friendly and I love the way they chatter.

The Auracana I've only had for 6 hours - but she's going to be trouble- she tried to put herself to bed in the one foot gap between the top of the coop and the run roof - 5ft off the ground, straight up, no trouble, my other chooks have looked, but never attempted. The Auracana sized it up within minutes and I knew she'd give it a try, but didn't think she'd be successful on her first attempt !

 

Should have added- I imagine from the sound of it that your chooks haven't had their wings clipped ? if not, you could clip one wing and that should stop them getting too far/high. I've never bothered with any of mine as I've found that they don't attempt to leave the garden, though I think I'll be clipping the Auracana before she free rangers.

[daxigirl]

I had no choice but to clip the wing of Paxo the Araucana as she arrived with the ability to fly rather well, which was a surprise. She's not a cuddly bird unlike Sunday Roast the Orpington who is always there waiting for you. Very pretty though.

[Jools]

Certainly the Welsummer and the Legbar are light breeds, so you you can expect them to be a tad nimble. Not sure about the Araucana but it sounds like they're a handful lol.

[Mercedes55]

Well it does sound like we have taken on quite a lot without realising it

 

I do love our Favorelle, she seems the sweetest and calmest of all of them and part of me wishes I had just had a pair of them and a pair of the Lavender Araucana's as although last night our Araucana did nip out of the WIR she still seems quite placid and it was easy to pick her up.

 

If we didn't have the 4 ex batts things would be fine. However I am a bit worried about integrating this lot with our ex batts. I have visions of trying to pick up the Welsummer and the Legbar every night to try and put them into the Cube with the ex batts and I think it's going to be quite hard.

 

I would imagine our next step, once they have all got a bit more used to each other, would be to FR them a bit and see how they get along. I have heard that ex batts can tend to be bullies towards other girls as that is what the battery farms life does to them. I have to say our prime concern really is the welfare of our ex batts as rescuing them was the reason we started all this and we don't want them to be unhappy.

[meezers]

I don't think it will be any harder than normal to integrate them with the ex bats - I have hybrids and purebreeds together no problem. They will tame down when they start laying - my legbar is easy enough to pick up , she crouchs the same as the others. The welsummer is the trickiest, she's very timid and never crouches.You may have to keep an eye on the faverolle, they do tend to get picked on as they are so placid. Mine was fine, but my Australorp went through a feather eating phase and favvie would just sit there letting Ozzy eat from her like a feathery buffet

[Mercedes55]

It's weird as for some reason I had thought that as they are all pure breeds and haven't been abused in the same way that our ex batts are that they would be all tame and friendly. Shows how little I know

 

I hear what you say about the Favorelle, I can imagine her being picked on by the ex batts just because she is placid. She is gorgeous though, I wish we had got more of them