Julianna Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Hi We have two new Light Sussex girls who are about 14 weeks now. They are in separate accommodation but growing out of it fast - they're huge! They have been free ranging with our 2 old ladies for the last ten days. One ignores them but the other chases and pecks them whenever food is or might be involved. No blood drawn and sometimes I think the newbies flapping actually encourages Hetty to go for them. Having read the info on introducing new hens, we've gone through the first few weeks of slow introductions and I want to try to put them in the Eglu together. However I'm worried that the fighting could get worse, and they are not POL yet. What advice have you got? Should I wait til they are at POL? If so that could be another 2 months and they are quite cramped in their run. Help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweety Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 Hi, They are still quite young, and I would leave it a bit longer before putting them in the eglu together tbh. What sort of housing are they in at the moment? Could you extend their run at all? If you can, I would do so and continue to free range them with the others until they are nearer POL or at least of a similar size to your old girls. There will still be some argy bargy until they are fully integrated, but at least they should be more able to stand up for themselves/escape from Hetty once they are older and bigger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjp Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 I'd wait untill they are at least 18 weeks old then they can go onto layer rations or put your older girls onto growers rations untill the youngsters are laying try them all togeather at 16 weeks old but in the mean time keep free ranging them all togeather and if the youngsters make the move on their own with no trouble just put them all on growers and leave them to it just keep an eye on them after about 7-10 days after the all go in togeather as I find that when I start to get a bit of squabberling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julianna Posted July 17, 2012 Author Share Posted July 17, 2012 Thanks for the advice - really helpful. Physically they are already as big as the oldies but they're just not as savvy! So I'll have to rig up a run extension I think. Hetty seems to love the growers pellets and rushes to the newbies house to gobble them as soon as they're let out to FR! I'm convinced Hetty, who's looking a bit scruffy post-moult, may also be feeling intimidated by how handsome the young ones are! Thanks again. I'll slow down my expectations and be patient. At least no blood has been drawn! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
