JoMonkey Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Hello, I know there are a couple of helpful posts on this on the forum already, but I haven't found one where you are introducing multiple new hens, to just one hen that you already own. We had to do this a few weeks ago, and it was a little tricky! At first the 3 new POL hens couldn't come out the coop because Henny, our older hen, would viciously peck and chase them. They didn't have access to food / water, and just hid inside, with their heads down in the corner. They were also very stunned as they hadn't been outside before, and all these surroundings were new. I have written a brief blog post about it, with a video as well, that I thought might be helpful for people: http://www.jo-blogs.co.uk/2011/07/the-good-life-captain-birdseye-lays-first-egg/ I never realised how territorial our previously chilled out Henny could be!! All is well now though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy ben grace Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Love the video! Thanks for sharing it. Hens will be hens and its useful for people who are thinking of introducing new hens to see what to expect! Glad that peace reigns for Henny and co now! Love the name" Captain birds eye", what was the inspiration behind it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoMonkey Posted July 12, 2011 Author Share Posted July 12, 2011 Glad you liked it!! Hope it helps people and is reassuring... I was looking up all kinds of info before / after we got the new lot - it can be quite scary and you do wonder if they'll ever integrate properly!! Haha, we had a Captain in our first lot of chickens - Captain Beaky - named by one of our friends. So we thought we should have another Captain for this lot, and tried to keep the name chickeny / birdlike! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Brilliant video, great idea!! Them poor new girls, Henny really didn't like them!! Bless them, I hope they're all friends now! I hope you don't mind but I directed someone to your blog because they were planning on introducing 2 new hens to a remaining one, thought it may be helpful if they didn't see your thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluffy chick Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 I did the same as you, with the canes when introducing my new bantams. But I put them together at night so they woke up together which helped I think. Also I let them free range together so they could get away from each other. I'm considering doing it again soon with my big girls which I'm not looking forward to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoMonkey Posted July 13, 2011 Author Share Posted July 13, 2011 Hi Sam! Of course, I don't mind at all. Hope it helps your friend We thought it might be easier, introducing many new hens to one existing one, but sadly it wasn't! Didn't take too long to settle though Fluffy chick - good luck with yours, it really can be nerve-wracking, especially when they're first put back together! Glad to hear it worked for you with the bantams though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluffy chick Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Fluffy chick - good luck with yours, it really can be nerve-wracking, especially when they're first put back together! Glad to hear it worked for you with the bantams though. Thanks they are fr ing togther for a couple of hrs a day now with out too much to worry me, but I still worry about one little one My bantams are mostly ok now but the pecking order is still pretty obvious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
