Poorly chicken

[James H]

wow! thats very clever how long did it take to make that little house out of plywood? I am intrested in doing so myslef if you could send me a PM about it that wood be apreciated

couldnt help doing the gag!

cash till for sale...................contents subject to change!!!

my dads friend made that up, yep totally original

rainbow warrior for sale..................................ex demonstration!

he made that up as well

[Lesley-Jean]

Just a bit of 8mm exterior ply James. Took about a day to make.

[The Bantam of the Opera]

I bought 3 orpington bantams today to live in my eglu but one of them is really quite small and the others have had the occasioal warning peck at her and she keeps her head down. Im worried about putting them all together in teh eglu tonight though, will she be pecked to pieces in the night?

 

i think one of them is a boy aswell, would this be a problem?

 

they all lived in the same caged at the place i bought them from and didnt attack eachother but it was alot bigger than an eglu.

 

Also, when i first brought them home i introduced them to my tw rhode island reds thinking they would all get along swimmingly but they were having none of it and viscously attacked the little bantams. will it ever be possible to get these guys to get along or can they just take in turns using the garden free range and the others go in teh run?

[Richard]

My new girls - three orpingtons, two buff sussex and a couple of others - are all now getting along fine. I stilll haven't introduced them to my old hen who I have had for over three and a half years. She was really awful when I tried and I separated them and haven't tried it again yet! I let them run separately in the garden - Georgina by herself and the others all in a group.

 

I'm thinking of giving them a go together in a week or so. The new girls will be getting close to 20 weeks old by then and I'm hoping that it will be OK.

 

As regards your little one - one of my Orpingtons is disabled - she has splayed legs and some nerve trouble which means that one of her feet won't grip and she has no strength/control in it. She falls over when she tries to scratch herself but can get about in a lolloping/hopping sort of way.

 

It was pityful for the first few days as the others pecked her and she hid and lurked out of the way and didn't dare take any food. However now it seems well sorted - she doesn't push herself forward and gets the occasional peck from the others, but she gets plenty of food by going after the others and seems pretty contented - they all sit down together during the day and don't victimise her anymore.

[chelsea]

when I first brought home my 13 week cochins 2 weeks ago. My big ole girl Ella was really violent with them, and they would just sit there and take it with their heads down. It got so bad that hubby had to de-clamp ella's beak from one of their heads.

 

We then decided to split them - seperate run, seperate sleeping quarters.

 

1st of all we kept them in the run and let the big girls freerange (for a few days). we then let each set of chooks out to free range alternately. Then we let them all out freeranging together, 1st of all we sat and supervised incase of any fights.

 

For about a 5 days now, my girls have been out freeranging together unsupervised without any problems, the young cochins now run away if Ella gets close and she cant be bothered to chase them, also to my suprise when I go out in the garden they catch me unawares and they are all sat as a foursome together on the step looking quite friendly and close.

 

It takes time, but it will get easier, just keep an eye on them, I still at the moment dont put them all in the same run - as there is nowhere for the little ones to run away too....also the little girls sleep in their own eglu.

[The Bantam of the Opera]

aww thats so cute and sad with your littel disabled one but im glad shes coping. my bantams are getting along fine now, havent seen any more pecking, narcissa has learned to keep her head down. i still think ill keep them in the run, my big girls are very aggressive towards new chickens and im worried a cat will get little narcissa because shes so small.

 

they seem contented though.

[Richard]

Now then, I think I may have a bit of a success story - so far at least.

 

As I said, I've kept Evil Georgie in the garden in a little, studio coop for one. The new girls have all been in the run. Its been like this for weeks now, and they've eyed each other up through the run wire as the girls have grown bigger. They must be about 18 weeks now.

 

Yesterday afternoon I took the plunge and let them all out into the garden together. There was a bit of strutting about and dashing at the young ones from Georgie, but nothing serious, and a lot of serious respect given to Georgie by the others (scuttled out of the way when she approached) but very little actual pecking.

 

I left them all afternoon and they were fine - she strutted about in and out of the run, they kept in a little group together on the whole - and kept out of her way.

 

Last night Georgie made her way back to her little coop, and the girls went up into the Cube. I'm thinking next of moving Georgies coop into the run and seeing if she prefers to go there or if she will go into the Cube.

 

And little (but getting bigger) Arrietty hobbles and lollops around but isn't getting picked on, which is what I was worried about - I thought that being the slowest, and bottom of the order, she might get singled out for some serious treatment.

 

Result!

 

Its much better than when I first tried them together, 10 weeks ago, when she pecked the living daylights out of the little girls and I had to separate them after about 5 minutes!

[Janty]

My little pekin ( hasbro could market this surely!) was so badly picked on by my big girls both in the cube and when freeranging that I have had to order her a little eglu all of her own. Good excuse to choose some more little ones to keep her company.

[The Bantam of the Opera]

Could anyone please tell me how i can distinguish between pecking order disputes which will sort them selves out and just plain fighting?

 

I get so stressed out seeing my girlies pick on eachother, i want to know how much i shoudl allow and when i should jump in there.

 

my girlies are all fine at the moment but im just anticipating when i get my buffs the reactions that Herro might have.

 

thanks all

[Richard]

every morning mine sort themselves out. It involves little pecks, feints and dashes and a bit of chasing. "Ooops, word censored!"ody gets really hurt, no injuries, although there is a chunk of noisy squarks and running around. It takes usually I suppose around 10 minutes then settles down. Then they settle down and will huddle up together like best mates, peck feed together etc. There is the odd little rumpus but on the whole its all fine for the day.

 

Then, when it gets a bit dark, they pile into the cube - nice and orderly as they queue to go in followed by a bit of rumpus as they settle down and climb over each other, stand on heads etc. and they settle down for the night.

 

then in the morning, its a new day, blank sheet in what passes for their brain and off we go again!

 

My limit would be damage. I don't mind a bit of aggro, chasing, pulling a feather or two. But if they were causing damage I would be doing something. I keep the Eglu and its run as a confinement place - no one lives there but its there for keeping them apart should I need to. I only had to do it (so far) when Liz was feather pecking badly before I put her nose ring on. Since then she has been fine.

 

Incidentally, I took her ring off a week or so ago - and she started again, So I put a new one back on.

[CatsCube]

Hmm I am discovering the drawbacks of changing one of my chooks when I have only had the rest of them for little under a week. the others are not free ranging yet, as I have been waiting for a week to pass, so I cant seperate them this way. The new girl is staying in the cube during the day so as not to get chased around by the others, as the standard cube run is pretty convined when you have 5 other girls to chase you round if you get in there way. I have put her own food and water supply in there for her today which she has happily devoured and she spends the day with her head poking out, standing in the door way. The others thankfully are letting her sleep with them at night without a problem. Im hoping that the others will forget that she is new in a day or two and let her get on with her thing, as I feel a bit sorry for her being to scared to leave the cube all day

[Lesley-Jean]

In my [limited] experienceit took about 3 weeks for the new girl to become integrated

[ChookieCaz]

When the man from Omlet delivered Rosie Roadrunner and Pepper, he suggested spraying vinegar and water on all the hens at night. The idea is to make them all smell the same.

 

We sometimes let Henrietta and Lizzie sleep in the Eglu when we first had them. I suspect that it might have slowed down the integrating process. However, they are all now in together in the Cube. The Eglu nesting-box is still used, but now for laying eggs.

[Guest]

not sure how i stumbled across this thread but glad i did as we're thinking of getting 2 more girls. DH is extending our run and that intro coop would be just the job, i'll show him as he's very handy!

[peanut12]

getting two new girls on Saturday and have now built an extra coop-ette for the new girls to integrate (using your example)

Can't wait! Thanks for the ideas.

[Eyren]

Definitely a useful thread - and I love the introduction coop!

 

I'm currently introducing two grown-ish (year and a bit) bantams to the resident 2-yr-old. We bought them on Sunday afternoon, conveniently close to chicken bedtime, and I put the new girls in the eglu run more or less immediately. There was some squawking and pecking, but they seemed reasonably happy to roost together in the eglu. Next morning the chasing and feather-pulling resumed, so I'm keeping them separated when I'm at work during the day (in a similar manner to Lesley, but using a stiff mesh panel from the garden centre instead of bamboo). I plan on letting them free-range together at the weekend, and hopefully they'll settle down in due course...

[peanut12]

picked up the new girls on Saturday. We kept them separated in the run until dusk and then let them get together. They all slept together the first night but this morning one of the new girls, the Sussex, would not come out of the Eglu as Kim was letting her have it. She seems quite scared which is wierd as she is bigger than the other birds already. Tonight, 3 have gone to sleep together in the Eglu and Brush, the Sussex has gone into the coopette I built on her own.

 

Is it normal for the two new ones to split up? Is it wise to let her contine sleeping separate or should we encourage them to all sleep together?

[Egluntyne]

Take it slowly.

 

Let them see each other during the day and encourage them to eat together.

 

I am doing this at the mo.

 

After a couple of weeks of this I plan to let them free range together and hope that they will be used to each other enough for it not to be too traumatic.

 

 

Good luck.

[Eyren]

I second Egluntine's tips. One of my new girls, Pepper, was very keen to establish herself as top chicken and kept pulling Angelica's feathers, but a few days of keeping them apart during the day and letting them sleep together at night seems to have done the trick. Yesterday (one week after I got the newbies) they were all free-ranging happily together and eating out of the same bowl

 

If your girls' status battles are a bit more severe it will take longer, but it will sort itself out eventually - "rogue" chickens who persistently bully are thankfully rare!

[MedusA]

Is it normal for the two new ones to split up?

 

When I got my Suffolk Noir and Suffolk Blacktail in September, my old Gingernut Ranger made friends with the Noir almost immediately and they both picked on the Blacktail (who had been the run-mate of the Noir). Sometimes I think they defy logic!

 

All three girls sort of get on now though, but the pecking order is still obvious.

[peanut12]

got home tonight to find them all asleep in the Eglu, even though an alternative was available so I'm guessing they have buried the hatchett (at least for now)

[piggysnorting]

We had our Omlet ladies for a while before I decided (like many others) to enlarge our flock. I decided on getting two Plymouth Rocks but when I went to get them, also ended up with a retired North Holland Blue.

 

Initially the new ladies pecked and sat on the Omlet ones and it all seemed very cruel. They free-raged and slept together fine but were horrible when left in the cube's run. I knew that I had to separate them somehow but not having the skills to construct a separate coop figured that there had to be a partition in the run.

 

At the time i didn't have any extra chicken wire or bamboo about but I did have an extra tarpaulin over the run. This left me with the Omlet sun shield thingy, which I strung up inside the run. I attached a loop of string to each of the lower bungee clips so that by undoing them and rotating the string I could lift the partition out of the way and then lower it when required.

 

I'm sure that the ladies could have flown over the top if they had really wanted to but with an adequate supply of food and water on both sides, they didn't try it. I'm glad to say that now things seem much more settled, with nothing more than a dot on the head from time to time, just as a reminder.

[Egluntyne]

Clever idea.

[Imo]

Just been reading all these fantastic posts, considering I got a new hen just yesterday. I've had quite a few hens in my time, so I'd hope that I know a little about how to introduce them together LJ's run looks absolutely fabulous!!

The method I'm taking with Vivienne and Queenie seems to be going well. We popped Queenie in the run yesterday, with Vivienne running out in the garden. Viv had a go at her through the bars, but then seemed more interested in pecking up the garden to find some nice grubs. Then in the afternoon we let them both out in the small courtyard by the run, so they could have a scratch around together and they kept remarkably calm. There was a distance between them that got smaller as the hours went by, and Viv was making a right clucky fuss but rarely pecking. We kept them seperated the first night - Queenie in the Eglu to get her used to it, and Vivienne in a box in the house.

They've been in the run together this afternoon - only when they're in the run do they seem to have fisticufts. Only when it gets really vicious around food will I intervene - sometimes a few sprays of water on Vivienne will calm her down, and Queenie then gets more confident that she can eat and get her grub without being attacked!!

It's not really a method that anyone else seems to use - but they're together tonight and there seems to be very little bickering. Spraying water just breaks them up; but it's a bit of a fools game. I was sitting outside monitering them for ages this afternoon in the snow - but it's really REALLY paid off, because they're not fighting anymore, and I really bonded with Queenie [who, considering we only got her yesterday and she had never been handled before, will let me stroke and handle her and is very calm with me]. I used the same method with Fifi and Vivienne, as we thought it was even more important since we were dealing with a bantam and a standard sized hen... and the fights were over very quickly.

It's not nice to see them peck each other, but it is their way of working out whose boss, so at least the ordeal of introductions is over quickly. And like I said, we always intervene when it gets too much. I don't like to see the new hen not eating - though her confidence is growing by the minute!!