goodinparts Posted November 5, 2010 Share Posted November 5, 2010 You're probably all tired of the stories of my struggle to get a cube & the eventual success...Well, now it's here and the broken wheel should be returned mended today so - of course - I'm anxious to fill it. Lewis suggested that it would be easier to integrate new girls with my three if they all moved into the cube at the same time...but I only have the go as a spare so I can't see how to isolate newbies for a week without one lot or t'other being in the cube. Questions a)if they come from a reputable source and are vaccinated how stupid would it be to skip the isolation stage? b)if the answer to "a" is "VERY stupid - don't go there" do you think it would make any difference which set of hens I put into the cube for that first week? Is a week a short enough time for neither lot to feel that it's particularly "theirs"? I don't want to waste the opportunity of short cutting integration periods by having a home that's new to both flocks but i do want to do things properly.... Advice very welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodinparts Posted November 5, 2010 Author Share Posted November 5, 2010 Waah...That missing "t" in inTegration is going to drive me mad. Why didn't I notice it when previewing? and why am I not bright enough to see if there's a way to edit posts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraJ Posted November 5, 2010 Share Posted November 5, 2010 Hello, I'm trying to integrate two new girls to my current two, and I'm sure lots of people will say I'm wrong but I have just popped them all in together and spent the day keeping an eye on them. They have had a couple of squabbles, and the little one is staying out of the way a bit, but there are plently of food and water sources so no one is going hungry. I hope yours all get on ok, its a bit of a worry isnt it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C&T Posted November 5, 2010 Share Posted November 5, 2010 It is really hard decision. Against the invaluable advice I have read on here, I also brough the new chooks home and popped them all in together. My reason were a) my garden is so small anyway, that any diseases could well have spread anyway, b) the only way I had of dividing them was to split the Eglu run with canes, so they would again still have been very close to each other; c) Orginal chook was a lone chook, and I didn't want to keep her a lone chook anymore than necessary, d) lots of "old timers" take the same approach, and I don't (personally) think this would have become standard practice if it regularly resulted in sick flocks. I also bought from a reputable breeder, with healthy looking stock, excellant recomendations etc. It is definitely a risk - and one that I took - and had a good outcome. I know others on here will be able to list times when this approach has not worked, and it has resulted in ill flocks or worse... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meezers Posted November 5, 2010 Share Posted November 5, 2010 I don't isolate any of my new birds in the strictest sense of the word. I section off a part of my WIR so the newbies can see the oldies , and maybe the odd beak can get through the wire. Obviously germs could be passed through but I don't have the space , or want the hassle of having a seperate coop at the end of the garden. So far ( fingers crossed ) I've had no problems. My auracana didn't even go into segregation- Muppet and co completely ignored her, so I took down the partition after 2 hours . I'm not suggesting this is the best way to do things, but I've had no problems.Also my birds tend to come from Wernlas, or the same local breeder, so I guess I'm limiting the chance of anything contagious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoxy Posted November 5, 2010 Share Posted November 5, 2010 I got 4 new girls last Saturday...I have checked them for lice and they are clean and very healthy...no sneezing etc. I partitioned off part of the free-ranging area with trellis covered in chicken wire...they have been able to see my existing girls all week. At night I have been popping them into the Eglu which my rabbit has lent them for the last few nights...she doesn't use it much anyway as she loves being in her burrow! and the two metre run. Tonight i will dab some Olbas oil on the necks of my new girls and when the established girls are asleep on the perches I will quietly put the new girls into the hen house. In the morning I will let them all free-range together...armed with my cappuccino and water sprayer It took me 6 weeks to integrate my first two hens with my 3 original Omlet girls but now that I am more confident the above tried and tested method seems to work well Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraJ Posted November 5, 2010 Share Posted November 5, 2010 Do you use a water sprayer to discourage the chickens from picking on each other? I used the hose to stop the dog from rushing at my hens (he learnt very quickly!), and I was wondering today if I could use it to break up squabbles, or if it was best to let them get on with it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meezers Posted November 5, 2010 Share Posted November 5, 2010 Do you use a water sprayer to discourage the chickens from picking on each other? I used the hose to stop the dog from rushing at my hens (he learnt very quickly!), and I was wondering today if I could use it to break up squabbles, or if it was best to let them get on with it? I used an old fairy liquid bottle when I introduced my last lot of chooks. A water pistol would work as well, but may not be as accurate . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted November 5, 2010 Share Posted November 5, 2010 Waah...That missing "t" in inTegration is going to drive me mad. Why didn't I notice it when previewing? and why am I not bright enough to see if there's a way to edit posts? Done it for you. If you use the edit button you can change the title, but it only seems to work if you alter the first post in the thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janty Posted November 6, 2010 Share Posted November 6, 2010 Personally, I would never just put them all in together. I nearly lost one of my little ones in the early days through not taking enough time with integrations. I wouldn't chamce it again. I'd keep the two lots separate then do alternative days free ranging. Let the cube lot out one day then the go lot out the next, etc, etc. That way they will see each other but the bars will keep them separate. After about two weeks I would start letting them out together under supervision. I did this with my three groups of pekins, including the anti-social headcases who picked on the brahmas and they are all friends now, going to bed together and free ranging happily. Because I'd taken things very slowly we didn't have any fighting or pecking. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodinparts Posted November 6, 2010 Author Share Posted November 6, 2010 Thanks, everyone...(including Egluntyne for sorting out that wretched "t") - looks as if there's no real way to take advantage of the cube as a new neutral space then - so I'll just go down the tried & trusted integrate with caution route - which was what I had originally expected to do anyway. Now all I need to do is to find someone who has both faverolles and either buff or speckled Sussex and i'm off. Not doing banties til the spring... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraJ Posted November 6, 2010 Share Posted November 6, 2010 Ohhh, bantams are soo lovely. One of our new ones is a sablepoot bantam and we have called her Jean Claude Ban-Tam . The other girls have been looking after her, but sometimes she gets her feet feathers trodden on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
