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The Rabbits

New Chicken - Help Needed

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:( Hello - we need some help. We have 2 Cochin hens (Betsy & Harriett) and have introduced a new POL chicken which was a POL rescue chicken. We have had the new hen (Wilma) for 12 days now. The larger cochin hen Harriett whom we always assumed was the most 'mentally challenged' chicken is giving Wilma a hard time. As far as we can tell she is not pecking her but is just chasing her anytime Wilma ventures out of the enclosure into the garden and forces her back into the pen. She is eating and drinking okay and seems fine around us and our cat and not too worried about Betsy the other hen. We are not sure what we should do as we would have thought after this amount of time things would have settled down. Also not sure of any relevance but the 2 cochins at night sleep more ground level and the newbie sleeps up as high as she can (we have a wooden shed with shelving they have all to themselves).

 

We did have two farmyard ducks but had to re-home them due to their size. The day we rehomed them is the same day that Wilma came to live with us. Would this have any effect? If anyone can offer any guidance it would be appreciated.

 

Thank you.

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I'm no expert but I know some introductions can take months. :?

 

I would make sure you have more than 1 feeder and drinker around so the old girls are 'guarding' the food. This will cause less arguments.

 

Also some people would take the most aggressive hen out for a few days and when she is put back in she will have moved in the pecking order. Although intros with just one bird tend to be harder from what I gather.

 

TBH if no blood is being drawn I'd be tempted to leave them to it. :?

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I'd leave them to it - sounds like normal introduction to me. As said, make sure there's more than one feed/drink station, and keep an eye out fir any blood, otherwise I'd let them get on with it. It's probably more upsetting for you than it is for the new hen!

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Congratulations on your new girl!

it'll take some time before things settle down, especially as there are 2 existing girls to 1 newbie.

I would recommend you have 3 feeding stations for the time being, as the other 2 can only occupy 2 at once. That way your newbie can eat without getting too stressed - even if the others make her move on, there will always be a feeder available for her to move to.

 

All the best

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