JALA_150 Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Hello, been lurking here for a while but now I'm after some advice, we are going to buy 4 new girls at the weekend (2 Pekin Bantams, 1 Heritage Skyline and 1 other but cant decide what yet) and I'm after some tips on introducing them to our 2 ex-batts, I have just built them a new large run so they will have plenty of room. I have enough room to put the new (or old) girls in a separate rabbit run inside the main run, is this worth doing, and how long should I leave them in there for? Any suggestions for a smooth introduction will be much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsatroy Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 I'm afraid I can't offer you any advice - but I will be very interested to hear replies. I have 3 girls (recently lost poor Imelda Staunton) and I would love to get 2 more but I am afraid of the whole introduction process! So will be watching closely to see what ideas people have and how you get on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackian Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 I have just introduced two new girls to two oldies and it has been just over two weeks and everything touch wood is going well.(have i spoken too soon ) This is the second time I have done it and it took me 4 - 5 weeks last time before there was peace and harmony and no screaming and i was worried about doing it again .. I have a WIR and two seperate coups .the WIR is divided in the middle and there is a hatch that slides up and down which was kept shut for the first week..I have a coup in each half . For the first week I kept them seperate but able to see each other letting the oldies out to FR in the garden but keeping the newbies shut in there half. I made sure each time there was a treat they all had them at the same time . After the first week I let them FR togehter for an hour before bedtime .There was a bit of pecking from little oldie Rosie who did not want to be bottom any more but little annie newbie was quick to make some space between them. After 10 days or so I opened the hatch for an hour and shut them in together letting them mingle making sure there was a couple of extra water pots and food pots. Last weekend I decided to bite the bullet and let them out together to FR most of the afternoon and it has gone fine. their WIR is open to go into any time and they go in each others coups at night .They have mixed yet sleeping .Old girl Clover makes sure they have gone to bed before she does .She puts them in their place just by a glare ....... Good luck . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Some advice Here. It is always a good idea to have a week's quarantine when purchasing new hens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pearls007 Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 Started our very first introduction on Monday when the new cube arrived amid swirling snow. The new girls are in the cube and its run and the old girls are wandering around them. Both the classic and the cube are inside a bigger fenced area - the old girls are rather cross that they are not being allowed into the garden! I plan to leave it like that until at least the weekend. It's very noticeable how much more vocal the newbies are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JALA_150 Posted March 14, 2013 Author Share Posted March 14, 2013 Thanks for your advice guys, we will be getting the girls on Saturday (very exicted) then, we will have them in a separate run for at least a few days and see how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyDaizy Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 Each lot of chickens is different. A few years ago we introduced 2 new girls to our existing chicken (another chicken had died) and it was about 2 weeks before I felt fully confident leaving them alone all together. I "broke" them in gently together every day, but most of the time during the day if they were put away, they went into separate runs (luckily I have a spare rabbit run as well as the chicken run) However a year ago, again having only one bird, I went and purchased another chicken. Both my existing chook and the new one just wanted to be together from the start. One was trying to break INTO the run, the other trying to break out! Strangely, it seems that whatever you do with them during the day, they can be all put together in the darkness of their hen house at night and they seem to be fine! Probably because they can't see each other Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JALA_150 Posted March 16, 2013 Author Share Posted March 16, 2013 So... We collected 2 Peking bantams this morning, they are both settling in at the moment in a desperate run in the garden. I have another question... Will I need to clip there wings, how high can a Peking fly? The fence in our run is 1.25 metres, will this be OK? I will post so pictures when I can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JALA_150 Posted March 16, 2013 Author Share Posted March 16, 2013 (edited) So here are the girls... Edited March 16, 2013 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackian Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 Oh my word! They are sooo beautiful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egghead68 Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 So pretty! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
