Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[scarybex]

I have read the articles on introducing point of lay chickens but I couldn't find exactly what I'm looking for, hoping you can help.

 

I have one remaining ex batt (3ish years old) and I am hoping to get 2 point of lay chickens. They will be chickens from the same supplier but who have not been directly penned together. Will I be able to add the 2 new chickens who are strangers to each other to the Eglu with the remaining ex batt?...or will we definitely need an adjustment period, if so would I need to keep all 3 separated or just the two or....? I had thought it would be ok as they'd be 3 strangers, but will the ex batt be territorial?

[..lay a little egg for me]

In my (albeit fairly limited) experience, the two newbies will be rather shaken up by the move to their new home and will probably get on OK even though they have not been penned together at the breeders. The existing single chicken may be fine with them if she is feeling lonely, it is hard to tell. It depends on your set-up too.

 

I had a similar situation in that I needed to introduce two new girls to an existing single chicken. What I did was to put the new girls in with the old one at night so they roosted together. Then in the morning, I let the new girl out of the coop to free range but kept the new ones in the run. I kept the door to the coop closed at night so that first thing in the morning it was dark enough inside for them to remain sleepy and not fight. When I opened the door, the old girl shot out but the newbies were shy so it was easy to let the old one out to free range. That evening I waited until the new girls had gone to bed before letting the old girl back into the run and she then went to bed. I shut the door on them all, and the same procedure was repeated for 5 days. After the 5 days, I let them all out to free range in the mornings. During the time that the new girls were kept in, the old one stayed close to the run because I think she was lonely, so when the 5 days were up, they integrated pretty quickly.

 

I have done the same thing with other introductions (usually two new hens to two or three old ones) but when they are allowed to free-range together there is some chasing and pecking from the old hens. If they did not have around 3 acres to free range in and lots of hiding places, the chasing could turn nasty so I don't think this method would work so well if the hens are in a confined space. I did not leave the coop door open so that the hens could go into the run in the mornings together until the new girls were properly integrated, which is to say no evidence of chasing and pecking. This took about 8 to 12 weeks, the only exception being when I was introducing two new girls to one old one as described above.

 

So, I think you may only need to separate the old hen, at least during the daytime but possibly not at night. It all depends on your set-up and the character of the hens! If your ex-batt is lonely she may well accept the new ones quickly and be less territorial than if she was part of a flock. It is best to be prepared and have the ability to separate them if need be because if they do fight it can get really nasty.

 

Hope this is of some help.

[scarybex]

Thanks, the free ranging bit I can't do though as I have 4 dogs (and a house mate who is in all day, but is not as careful as me) and a fox is also on the prowl after a successful snatch of one of next doors free rangers.

 

She does look lonely, she was not a particularly dominant bird of the 3, She was the most hen pecked out of the lot at one point.

[dance in the dark]

If this is the case, I wouldn't worry about the two new ones getting along, normally if two new hens are thrust into a completely new place together, they will mostly get along, especially since they will be younger, so I wouldn't expect keeping them together to be an issue.

 

You might get away with putting them in with the ex-bat, if you let them see each other during the day and monitor it carefully, maybe pop them in the eglu with her at night, if the first meeting goes well, then be there first thing in the morning to check that everything's ok.

 

In my experience, some hens take on new hens much better, but any top chickens or bottom chickens in the existing pecking order need to be watched (as they have the most to lose/gain from new hens in the pecking order). Overall when introducing new hens you can always try putting them together and see what happens, but you will need a backup plan. Especially if free-ranging isn't an option.

 

Tim

[scarybex]

Quick update. Last Saturday I picked up 2 point of lay from the fabulous Merrydale Poultry. One Copper Black Maran and a Snowbell (a White Star I think?). I took the risk and opened the carry box at the open gate to the run. After a couple of minutes peering and a bit of corn between the two the new guys went out into the run. There was calm, then a brief bit of hissing, posturing and the odd comb pinch from the Copper Black they established who's where and started their new lives together! Brill or what!! The newbies have been named Isabelle (white one) and Gracie (copper black), joining Clara our ex batt. Thank you for your support x