Omlet Smart Autodoor - New in box

[majuka]

I am after some advice please. Before Christmas we got our thirds lot of ex-batts. For the first two weeks they were completely separate. Then for maybe a week or two we let them see each other but not actually able to touch. Since Christmas Day we have allowed them to mix when we are there and they are free ranging but the extension run and spare coop was allocated to the new girls so they were separate when they were locked in.

 

I am quite worried about Alisha, one of the new girls. It got to the stage where she would not leave the coop when they were in. The other new girls would just pick on her and she would run back into the coop. I don't think she leaves the coop at all when they are in when we are at work. She loves being out and about and when we first mixed them with the old girls she tried to follow the old girls around but they wanted nothing to do with her.

 

There is the odd squabble between the flocks now but overall things have gone reasonably well - the main problem is with Alisha. At the beginning of the week we had to have another of the new girls, Cinderella, pts due to peritonitis so we are left with 3 old and 3 new. All but 1 of our girls, 1 of the oldies Georgina, attack Alisha. They are not pulling her comb because we have liberally applied vaseline to it. They will all jump on top of her. She just freezes but they carry on. She is no threat to them but they really seem to have it in for her. She hides away in the garden and starts running round squeaking if they come near her.

 

We have had to move the extension run back in and rejoin it so as of tonight, all girls will be sleeping together. We have done it now because my husband is away for the rest of this weekend and next weekend so it would have been a few weeks before we could do it and it is getting very hard to try and separate the flocks to get them to bed in the evening.

 

My concern is that they just wont stop unless you distract them and I worry that Alisha will get really badly hurt or worse.... Do you think i should carry on and hope things get better? Accept that she is pertified of them and keep her on her own for ever? Try and mix her with Georgie alone because Georgie is very sweet natured. Alisha is a bit wary of Georgie but Georgie is just as wary of her!

 

It was never this hard last time and I am at my wits end.

 

Any help please would be very much appreciated.

[alet_chicken]

Hi, your situation sounds not dissimilar to what happened to a couple of my ex-batts (April rescue) in the summer. In our case we realised we were going a bit quickly for them; we just took a step back and split the flocks again, and took the integration much more slowly. The flocks fully merged after about 8 weeks. Maybe it's just the case that Alisha needs a bit longer than her mates to get her confidence.

 

It would be best really if Alisha could be integrated with the others, as she would not be happy on her own. Whereabouts in the pecking order is Georgie? If she is not at the bottom then it may be a good idea to let her and Alisha mix together and bond, and then reintroduce both of them to the mixed flock. If you keep them within sight of each other, then Georgie shouldn't lose her place, and then Alisha will at least have one friend when you re-introduce her to the flock.

 

Chickens are really good at detecting weaknesses in others - it may be worth checking Alisha over for any health problem that may be the reason for the others picking on her.

 

Hope this helps a bit.

[majuka]

Thank you for your reply, it is reassuring to know that we are not alone!

 

I guess that my real concern is that Alisha hasn't really integrated with the new girls either, despite them being together since 5th December. When we let the old and new flocks mix, they all mix together quite well, apart from Alisha.

 

I have actually taken Georgie and Alisha tonight and moved them into the house for tonight. Because the lights have been on they have stayed up later than normal. I would not go as far as to call them friends yet but I think it has been quite reassuring for her that at least Georgie is not out to get her. Georgie is relatively low down the pecking order but the old girls have a very good relationship and there is no fighting between them.

 

You have made a very interesting point about her health. We have given her a check over and to us she appears 'normal'. We do have a really good vet though and had planned to take all of the new girls for their check up once they had setted in so we will bring that forward and see if there is anything physically wrong with her that is making the other girls act this way.

 

Thank you again for the advice.

[alet_chicken]

It sounds like you are doing the right things. Keeping fingers crossed for the integration.

 

Good luck with everything. Please let us know how Alisha lets on.

[majuka]

Thank you for the encouragement!

 

Well, I feel more positive than I did when I started this thread. Alisha is still wary of all of the girls, apart from Georgie, but she is not as wary. Also, they are starting to lose interest in her a little bit so that is helping. Despite having kept hens for a couple of years now, this collection has been the hardest. It hasn't helped that it has been the coldest winter 'since records began', these girls have been the baldest of all of our girls, poor Cinderella and her peritonitis and little Alisha getting picked on. Still things can only get better!

 

Luckily I only work part time, things are getting better for her whilst they are free ranging. I think she will probaly stay in the safety of the coop when I am back at work tomorrow so I shall make sure she has got food and water in there until she is ready to mix more.

 

Thanks once again for the well wishes.