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Bex01

Adding to my flock, how best to do it ?

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Hi there,

We've had hens since July 2011, originally we had 4 ex-batterries and we are now down to 2. Feeling it's time to boost the flock back to 4 and I've found a rescue happening in Bedfordshire on 17th November :dance: Having asked for 2 newbies we're now worrying about how to intergrate them :? My hubby says he can split our walk in run in half so they can see each other but no touching!!! The question we have is what about bedtime??? Can they sleep together or should they be split up for a while? If they need to be kept apart, we're a bit stuck as we only have one eglu :doh: Advise please, thanks. :pray:

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We have a WIR which we divided up and put a hatch in the middle .

We kept the new girls in a temporary coup for a couple of weeks and separated from the old girls but able to see them .After a week or so we let the old girls out FR and then a couple of days after that the new girls joined them for a while with plenty of feeding stations and water pots...A water pistol or old washing up bottle was also useful for squarting a bully if needed.

After about 3 weeks we opened the hatch and the new girls were still in the temp coup at night and Clover our old top chick decided to go in and sleep with them ..I think they then had approval . :dance: They all then went backwards and forward between each coup.

We have since got a larger coup and taken down the temp one but have kept the WIR divided and the hatch up .If needed for a poorly girl or new ones again we will just pull the hatch down .

I know every one does it differently but we have done this twice and it has worked....Good luck and patience is the key .

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If you can be there every morning to separate them before they get out in the run, they will probably be ok overnight. It's quite a lot of hassle though, and I prefer them to be completely separate to start with as quarantine. If you will be keeping chickens long term I would really recommend a second house - it's only temporary so doesn't need to be expensive and many can be flat packed for storage. Maybe something like this one for £30 http://www.supapets-online.co.uk/shop/article_411/Night-Shelter.html?sessid=7lYTsURp6KO9jl4Ybw7IxX63op4S0onHyLwebuCMjzYRg1HYqBohuyOgIpAjnDuE&shop_param=cid%3D23%26aid%3D411%26

 

If you can split the run and have separate housing, there is no stress and time pressure with integrating them - they can get used to each other in their own time. I took 6 weeks over integrating mine this summer (way longer than many people deem necessary!) and it was so easy and stress free. Longer the better in my experience.

 

Good luck :D

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As Sandychick says, they are usually ok at night as they're docile so you could put them in the same Eglu together but it means a lot of work for you as you'd have to put them in and take them out every time. Completely separate accommodation is a good idea for quarantine purposes, but it's just not practical for some of us.

 

Provided the run is secure, they could just sleep in a cat-carrier during the integration period, I have even used a cardboard box although you have to change it as it'll get soggy. It's just somewhere draught free and dark that they can huddle up in at night, I would improvise something as it's just for a few weeks.

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Do you know anyone with a dog crate? I borrowed one for them to sleep in and let them FR in the day. It still took weeks though. In fact they are finally all integrated 6 weeks later, with obvious pecking still going on. Its prob taking so long because the chicks are pol. Once they start laying I hope they will be totally left alone!

 

The sad thing is that the hen doing the most bullying is the mum of the chicks! I think she lost her place in the pecking order when she went broody :boohoo:

 

 

Xx

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Provided the run is secure, they could just sleep in a cat-carrier during the integration period, I have even used a cardboard box although you have to change it as it'll get soggy. It's just somewhere draught free and dark that they can huddle up in at night, I would improvise something as it's just for a few weeks.

 

We separated our run and for quite a few weeks my new girls slept in a cat carrier with aubiose in the bottom. I just put the door on each night and covered it with an old sheet.

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I'm integrating new ex batts at the moment. What I've done is split the WIR in two with the oldies in one half and the newbies in the other. The newbies are sleeping in a pet carrier at the moment. The WIR has a roof, and we have covered the pet carrier over with plastic sheeting to keep it as dry as possible. Plenty of shavings in the bottom means they can also lay eggs in there. I've now merged the two flocks, but will keep the pet carrier for a couple of weeks until everything has settled down.

Plenty of feeders and drinkers is important when integrating few girls - sometimes existing hens can guard the food and water and prevent the newbies from accessing it.

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We have just intergrated with exbats with 2 POLs. We kept them in a WIR run but fenced off from each other - did 10 mins of FR together slowly increasing time - took about 2-3 weeks then all in together.

We had sure there was lots of food / drinks / perches to escape - was easier than i thought it might be but still quite a worry - definately the slower the better and yes an old animal crate would defo do the job

 

Good luck and let us know how you get on - think we have had ours about 5 weeks now and they all seem to be friends now xx

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