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geb0205

An introduction question HELP!!

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Just back from holiday in North Yorkshire, and happened across a friend's Gold Pencilled Hamburghs - they have 2 pullets, and they are gorgeous!! Well, that set me off, and today, I am the proud owner of a new gold pencilled Hamburgh to add to Speck and Freck!

 

Well, "Puzzle" is tiny at the moment, about 12 weeks apparently, and is in the eglu and run whilst the big girls (both banties) are in the garden.

 

Well, put thebog girls in the run as Puzz is small and cold on her own, and of course, both started pecking little one. Puzz is now in the eglu in bed, and the girls are back in the normal place.

 

As Puzz is so small, am I best leaving it a little while (how long?!) and letting her grow a bit, and get them aquainted through the run mesh before introducting them all together again, or do I just put them together and let them get on with it?

 

Anyone have any advice on how to introduce chooks properly? The people I got Puzz off (funny, also the same people I got the other two off) said just introduce them and stick about, and then they will be ok. Hmm, I'm not convinced.

 

Sorry, this has become rambly - anyone got any good tips?

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Update today, last night Speck and Freck tried to go to bed in the eglu, and poor puzzle came off most definatly the worst of the lot. Puzz is now terrified of them, so I am off to get a friend for Puzz this morning, and I will leave them in the eglu alone to get on with growing properly, before introducing the velecoraptors (S&F).

 

I feel so guilty and so sorry for it. The introductions were going well, until it tried to go to bed, when freck jumped on it and gave it what for. :shock:

 

Do you ever stop feeling guilty about trying to introduce 2 new ones to an exsisting 2?!

 

This is going to take time, and having read Buffie's pinned topic in the FAQ, I am going to prepare myself for giving up on it all together if introductions dont go well.

 

What have I done!

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I'm sure it will be fine eventually. We introduced a 14 week old newbie to 3 omlet girls. Really nasty for 8 days then fine. But I did have to separate the new girl in the day in the childrens wendy house as there would have been nothing left of her if she was left in the run with the others. At night time, when the others had put themselves to bed, I popped her in through the eggport. Come morning, when I opened the eglu up, I separated them again. But all is well now.

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We had problems recently after replacing one of our hens that got foxed. It was horrible for a few days and now all is more or less fine. She was cut on her comb but we added wound powder and bought anti peck spray and bumber bits (these came a bit too late!). The only pecking since has been when we have had guests over - Frankie seems to like to show off! The way we saw it was that if we introduced them slowly then it would just be more drawn out. My friend had similar problems when she introduced a new kitten to her older cat - lots of biting and scratching but it's fine now!

 

Don't give up!!

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i introduced a new chicken, babs, a few months ago. the other 2 girls were constantly pinning her in the corner and pecking her to the extent where she was bleeding. so what i did, was i put the new girl babs in with one of the other girls. iwould leave them together for a few hours and then swap them over. after a couple of days of 'one on one' time, they settled in well, with the odd peck when food is concerned. hope the situation improves for you as it can be a very hard time.

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I have just introduced 2 new girl to my Omlet girls which I have only had for 2 weeks. The pecking and bullying is hard to watch so I let the older girls free range during the day and let the young ones have the run to themselves. The new girls take a while to come out of the cube in the morning as they make sure the older girls are out of the way. I checked in the cube tonight as I closed the door and all 4 are in the nesting area. :)

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I agree. I still feel guilty about adding 2 new older hens to my original 4. The two newbies took control and wrested power from my 4. They used to look at me as if to say 'what have you done to us? :( ) If it looked to be getting bad I'd seperate them for short while - it's finding the balance between letting them get on with it and not letting it get so bad that it upsets you or leads to injury. The problem with the eglu run is that there is no room to escape if things turn nasty. Things are definitely easier when they are freeranging and can get away if needs be. :?

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I'm about to undergo the same problem as I'm looking to replace our bantam Geraldine who was out-foxed at the weekend. I read somewhere this week that the best time to introduce new stock is at night when they are less active. Apparently if you give all of them a spray with some water and vinegar it helps to mask the smell and makes acceptance easier. Don't know if it works or not but will be giving it a go myself within the next few weeks. Would also like to ask some breed advice but will add that now as a new topic. Good luck!

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My six new bantams are 12 weeks old and are in the cube (when I can catch them :roll: They share a divided pen with my 2 old bantams - which they can see through the wire.

 

I intend taking the wire down tomorrow - (after a week of sharing) and see what happens.

 

The breeder said that she always puts them all together to sort things out. She said if there were problems to just seperate them again until they were bigger.

 

(I think 6 versus 2 might give them an advantage.)

 

If it works out - I intend letting them choose for now where they prefer to sleep - eglu or cube - for a week, then to remove the eglu

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