essexhen Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 I posted a couple of weeks back as the fox took two our of hens leaving us with one, we wanted a replacement heritage skyline and the supplier wasn't due to get them in for two weeks so we picked up a speckled hen to keep our leghorn company and arranged to go back today to get the skyline and a fourth hen as it's supposed to be easier to introduce two rather than one. The leghorn was always the top chicken and she pecked at and jumped on speckles for the first day but by day 3 they were getting on fine, the leghorn although coming up to a year old just isn't that big and speckles seems a touch bigger already although she's pol. Anyway a week and a half later we went to pick up the skyline and also picked out a rhode ranger, we've gone for the lob them all in together and let them sort out the pecking order approach but the speckles is doing her best to pick out feathers from the rhode ranger and the poor skyline is so much smaller than all of them, I never noticed when we got her but she must be a good couple of weeks younger and is acting quite terrified, so we've put the two new ones in the house, they've came out once or twice but just end up hiding under the water. We weren't worried about disease as they all came from the same place and the speckles and the rhode ranger were actually in the same shed. Don't like the first couple of days of introductions at all, keeping a close eye in case we do need to separate them for a bit Has anyone else gone with the lob them all in together approach? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindafw Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 I did lob them together, adding a two buff Orpington (hen and cockerel) and a Sussex girl to a group of two more mature Dorking ladies and all went fine...but they have a huge garden to roam in so maybe that made it easier. I have seen it suggested that you wait until they are roosting at night and then add the new hens when everyone is sleepy and not likely to squabble, by the morning they are (so it said) used to each other Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
essexhen Posted May 21, 2011 Author Share Posted May 21, 2011 Well the leghorn wasn't to bad with the new girls but the speckles was quite aggro, the odd peck is fine but she was determined to pull out their feathers and was trying to drag them out from under the water bowl. So we decided to separate them for a bit and will put them back in together come bedtime. They can still see each other, it was actually quite funny as one of them got away and my other half had to herd her back through a hedge! We can't let them totally free range again due to the fox taking two now and three from next door, but we should have some electric fencing set up in the next few days so they will be able to roam in the garden, hopefully with more space than the cube run they will start to get on. I've heard it's much easier if you have a cockerel as he will automatically be top in the pecking order, love buff orpingtons btw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
essexhen Posted May 23, 2011 Author Share Posted May 23, 2011 Introduction is not going well, yesterday morning the speckles had quite a go at the ranger and she had a large open wound . So we are now going for the split them up during the day approach where they can see each other and put them all in the cube together over night, it was quite scary putting them back in last night but no new injuries today. We have a fox problem at the moment so didn't feel confident leaving them in the temporary run and house overnight. It was quite horrid seeing such a friendly little hen wounded. Luckily a neighbour lent me some purple spray and the ranger seems fine and not in pain, even laid her first egg today . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan08 Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 Not an expert by any means. But can tell you about our intro if it helps. We had our two new girls from Omlet by the next week went to pick up another two. The breeder advised putting the two new girls in the dog crate next to the run, then popping them all in together at night. One of the new girls settled in fine, I think she was probably quite a bit older than the others, but the other one was quite a lot younger, all the others were laying and she only had a little spiky black comb and didn't come into lay for another six weeks. She was very badly bullied, even by her ex friend. We separated them in the run for most of the day as we are at work, with a wire sheet and bamboo canes, and gave her her own little nesting box. Then following advice on here for a couple of days in the evening popped the least aggresive girl in with her and gave them some treats for the last couple of hours of the day. One of the problems is that she looked sadder when she was separated than she did when she was being bullied! Then we took the wire away, and sat armed with the hose and let them all in together. Chilli was the worst offender, but picked up pretty quickly what a quick squirt of the hose meant and the worst of the bullying stopped. We also used the anti peck spray, by the look on Chillis face it definitely dosent taste very nice, but I am not really sure how effective it was. Bluebell looked very strange for a while, the anti peck spray stains the feathers and she had purple spray all over her bum where she has already been pecked. I would say though that it did take about 3 weeks before they were all together as a group. Bluebell is still the outsider, but she holds her own and is also the biggest now which helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
essexhen Posted June 9, 2011 Author Share Posted June 9, 2011 Thanks Duncan, I've only just spotted your reply when I came back to update, i really wish id seen it sooner, but I'm happy to say it worked out we kept the two new ones apart from the other two during the day for a week and popped them all in together at night, we didn't have any anti peck spray or is that the same thing as the purple antiseptic spray? but was advised that vick's vapour rub works quite well so we used that on the two new ones backs at night and no more injuries after a week we let them all out in the garden together during the day and it took another week or so but now they all seem to get on fine, the Ginger ranger is now laying our biggest eggs! We also now have the electric fencing up around the back garden and so far no more problems with the fox! On a slightly different note I just popped into a local store to see that they are selling 6 free range local eggs for £3 So glad we have our own! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
