3.6m Omlet Chicken Run for sale, Brand New in Boxes, Milton Keynes (MK19)

[beccauk]

Hi

 

ive just picked up two columbines this afternoon roughtly 15 weeks old and introducting them to my 3 amber links that i have had since march,

i thought id let them out in the garden to introduce them with abit of space they did not meet and just starting eating together as i was probably too hopeful.

 

they are tolerating them in the garden at a distance but if they get a bit close they will run for them and get hold of feathers , is this just a meeting stage like teething i need to get through?

what signs should i look for when its never going to work and they will get bullied to death?

 

becca

[Plum]

Just give them time.

 

I always use seperate housing and let them eye each other up through the wire to get used to eachother and sort out their pecking order, then freerange then move in runs together. I've found it takes several weeks doing it this way and less painful in the long run.

 

For some people putting them together straight away works but you need nerves of steel. Use a water pistol or similar to squirt the agressor and it distracts them and saves feathers being lost.

 

Good luck

[beccauk]

well they have all gone in the run together now, they seem to be going for them more then they get scared and start running to get away , when they sit low out the way they dont seem as bothered

[Plum]

Not bad then so why not put extra perches and obstacles in the run for them to hide behind and extra food pots and water. You can get cage cups from pet shops

 

I'd love to see a pic of them. My amber link is mad as a box of frogs and I think columbines are when young. You're going to have loads of fun

[beccauk]

lol yea im wondering if i did the right thing now lol they have gone in the eglu now the ambers are out one keeps going in now and then. im not sure if its good and they might be accepted as they are not going at them continually,

i cant watch a wildlife programme when theres a buffalo being hunted down and attacked by a lion or something lol

 

if when they go in to roost and i take take the lid off the eglu to peep in and they are all snuggled together is that a good sign? lol

 

has anyone else got 5 chickens in an eglu classic and found it roomy enough?

 

il try get some photos on to show you if i remember how only done a couple before lol

 

becca

[Plum]

Think you might be posting them in when the others are asleep. You could put them in a cat carrier in the run at first.

[beccauk]

well i can report they are all roosted up in the eglu no feather pecking that i can see, will there still be world war 3 tomorrow?

[Plum]

chicken whisperer

[beccauk]

well they seemed to roost ok but they started having a peck again this morning when we went to let them out , we have put a mesh partition in the middle of the run to seperate them, would this make it worse would they be better just sorting it out

 

i dont know if the amberlinks are getting more the fact they havent got the whole run to go in or the fact theres a food the otherside they cant get to.

[Plum]

I put a partition in so I say you are doing right 15 weeks is still young and the newies will get more assertive as they come into lay.

[beccauk]

one of the columbines has afew top feathers missing near the base of the tail and when i parted them to have a look theres a bald patch with abit of dried blood apart from that i checked the other columbine also they have no marks or damage, they all roosted together again lastnight but this morning you could hear they were starting to get pecked at before they had been let out.

i think this would is more from the other columbine as i noticed the other one has been pecking it since we got them, even when they are seperated from the amberlinks every few minutes it has a peck sometimes near the neck but doesnt take much feather.

at first i thought they were just sorting their ranking out between them the other one just stands there occassionally moving away when it gets that wounded area.

i dont know if the ambers have fulled afew feathers and now the columbines making it worse of whenits been having a peck through the day has made it like that.

im not really sure what to do. only had them since friday to try to intergrate them with the amberlinks not sure if its worth it or just except i wont get mulitcoloured eggs from my chickens and find a new home for my columbines, their such lovelly pretty birds.

 

any advice welcome

 

 

becca

[Plum]

Take care if they get a taste for blood they can keep pecking and it can be fatal. You can disguise a sore with purple spray but I would seperate until its healed

 

Don't give up, you'll get there. I would keep the partition up in the run and put a box or something in there for them to sleep in at night. If it's an Omlet run they'll be safe in there at night.

 

As they are pecking and starting to cause damage I would keep them seperate for a fortnight. Then try freeranging first and gradually move on to sleeping then being together in the run. They could be ready quicker.

 

What they are doing now is normal behaviour

[beccauk]

thank you for your support, il try get a photo of the wound later and see what you think, i will soldier on then if its possible they will accept them and do the seperation like you advise , i just didnt want to put them through it if it wouldnt work anyway they seem quiet happy in the run with the partition just a shame i dont have a big enough garden to get another eglu and keep them by themselfs completely,but then if i had room if get more chickens soooo... lol

[beccauk]

hi

i have managed to take a photo to try to show the wound, it is slightly covered by some feather i had to hold them out the way to try get a photo it is. is this just normal damage for trying to intergrate chickens, the other columbine keeps having a peck but doesnt ever seem to have a feather or anything they have been together all day id think it would look worse if the columbine was doing it?

 

 

sorry about the size of the photo ive tried to make it smaller they have changed the edit thing on photo bucket since i used it.

 

becca

[Plum]

Looks dry and should heal quickly if you can stop the others pecking it. Have you anything to put on to disguise the red colour. That's what triggers them to peck. You could disguise it with sudocreme if you have that or food colouring.

 

Looks like she's having a mini moult with those new feathers coming through. They'll soon cover the area.

 

How's it gone today. Are they making faces through the partition

[beccauk]

well they have been surprisingly close to the mesh today, and the amberlinks didnt seemed fused only tonight they tried to peck through the mesh, im going to invest in a water pistol and might let them free range together in a week maybe, ive had to make a cardboard box a temp coop if they use it to keep them seperate at night as well for now. i think when the amberlinks went to sleep mode they didnt seem bothered about roosting with them but i think they started at them in the morning when they woke which is abit earlier then we were as i woke up hearing them squeaking getting pecked at in the coop i can assume.

 

i was reading one or two other posts about people introducing hens and seemed to of got them to in the end.

 

shame your not round the corner you could pop round for coffee and give me advice lol

 

i have sudocream that i could put on it if i put it on tonight, it wouldnt attract the other columbine to peck more would it?

 

thanks for all your help

 

becca

[Plum]

No she'd ignore it. Sounds like you have a good plan. Here's a Link to a thread a few of us contributed to. It was my first introductions so you'll see what a meal I made of it. There may be some tips for you

 

Forget the coffee lets have a virtual glass of wine red or white?

[beccauk]

they didnt seem to get on too bad going to invest in a water pistol been reading afew posts on here about people introducing hens.

i have some sudocream that wouldnt make the other columbine peck it more tho would it?

 

its a shame your not down the road to come for coffee to give me some advice lol

 

i have made a cardboard coop for them tonight to keep them seperate, but they seem to be wanting to get through the mesh and go in the coop and roost with the amberlinks as they have gone in and been put to bed. seems odd when the next minute they are getting pecked by them during the day.

 

thanks for all your help if i get through this it be thanks to you lol

 

becca

[richardr]

Hi Becca

 

Take heart, it sounds like you are doing the right thing. Persevere, it just takes time.

 

I've put an outline of my recent experience below.

 

I got two new girls of about 20 weeks old in early April. After a day of separation I pitched them in with my original pair who are about a year old.

Predictably, war erupted and my nerves lasted about 30 minutes before I leapt in and separated them!

I then separated the run(I used garden canes) and built a temporary house in end opposite the coup.

 

The all free ranged together for a couple of hours each day with me standing guard with the water pistol.

Every couple of days, they would swap ends in the divided run, to try to break up any territorial issues.

 

I also took to sprinkling treats either side of the divide when they are in their separate ends of the run, as this gets them used to eating in close proximity.

As time went on, the water pistol became almost(but not quite) redundant at free range time.

A couple of weeks ago I took the plunge and removed the barrier.

 

They remain two distinct pairs, with the old pair very much in charge and still having the occasional lunge at the newbies, but they no longer constantly terrorise them.

I left the temporary housing in the run(I used the top part of one of those small grow houses, wrapped in tarpaulin with a litter tray full of straw inside for a nesting box) and the new pair choose to roost on top of that each night although everyone lays in the eglu nesting box.

 

Trouble hotspots generally seems to arise when: they hear us about, are put back in the run after free range or when they are coming to the end of treats sprinkled on the lawn(at which point oldies chase newbies off - they don't do this initially when there is plenty for everyone). But these are literally flare ups which settle down very quickly.

 

Hope this helps.

Give it time and your girls will get there. As I said, you are very much doing the right thing and you clearly care very much about your girls so they are very lucky!

[beccauk]

Hi

 

Sorry i didnt realise i had posted my last reply twice, didnt realise it had gone onto page 2 just thought i hadnt pressed the button lol

 

i have purchased some water pistols from pound land, and have taken some photos the columbines seem more settled today.

i applied some sudacream to the the wound this morning and it was still dry even starting to go scabby and flake off i dont think the other columbine is causing any damage when it keeps pecking now and tghen as i would expected the wound to of been worse this morning. i did realise after that i probably carnt use the sudacream on myself now lol might put it in the chicken box as a first aid trick.

 

taken some photos to show you.

 

This is my purchase today a cat litter box we have taken the flap off the front for now and made a wooden roosting rack in the bottom, as we found they didnt want to go in the cardboard box who can blame them when theres a eglu lol but we put the cat carrier in which we transported them in on friday and they went in for the night. only trouble my brother needs it back for his cat.

 

 

here are my beautiful columbines with their new home, see if they go in tonight

 

 

heres my 3 trouble makers the amberlinks ( no names yet )

 

 

and just to show the whole run .

 

 

thanks again for your help plum and yours richard its so reassuring, sorry for the photo size again omlet if you have any help to tell me how to make it smaller on the new outlay on photobucket!

 

becca