Chicken bald back

[bokbok87]

Hello all,

 

I have had 2 hybrids for the last 3 weeks (Mr fox came in week 2) and so I thought it would be a great idea to get two more hybrids as companions.

I contacted the seller I bought the original hens from and he said it would be fine to get 2 more as he had the same sized hens which were hatched when my 2 were. Essentially they had lived together up until I came along.

 

I did what was suggested by the seller - let the two original hens roam around the garden as they usually do and put the 2 new ones in their coop. They could see each other but not get to each other.

After a whole day like this I let the original hens roost with the new hens and all seemed well.

 

2 days later and I am having issues! The 2 new hens are not given access to food or water by the old hens and my original hens flap their wings and send the newbies running to the coop for protection.

I am currently letting the original hens out and then newbies have a chance to get food and water this way, which is a bit unfair.

 

Do I let this continue to happen? My seller reassured me just to keep a close eye on them and in a couple of weeks it will settle down.

I don't know whether taking the newbies out will help or make things worse.

I could by an inexpensive run but it won't get here until Thursday and they would still have to roost with each other.

There is a difference in size and the two original hens are slightly larger - maybe I overfeed them

 

Any advice please?!

[bokbok87]

Any advice please?! I am still having to feed them separately and the bullying still hasn't settled!

[jackian]

Hi there .

 

I have introduced girls a few times and believe me it will settle down. I can only go by what I have done in the past and that is take it slowly.I reckon a month at least before you can breath a sigh of relief .

Firstly I separated the run into two with chicken wire and let them see each other through the wire for at least a week and putting them in a make shift coup ,or you can put them in together at night .

I then let each set out separately ,new girls first so they can find all the hiding places and get to know your set up. Put them back in and let the old girls out.

After a while let them mix letting the new girls out first and keep a water pistol handy (or an old washing up bottle) and squart the bully if there is one..If they all get on except one bully then separate the bully as a last resort.

Have lots of places with food and water they can not all be in the same place at once .

My friend once said to me " you can see why they get upset as how would you like to come home and find some one strange sitting in your house "

Hopefully others will be along with more advice .

 

Jackie x

[Random_Girl66]

I have brought in new girls once before and I am embarking on the same process again now introducing 4 new girls to a group of two old girls and two bantams.

 

Jackian's advice is spot on, I think. I have the luxury of two coops and runs which sit in a bigger pen so fortunately they don't have to roost together and I have full control of when they meet up but they can see other all the time. In fact, in the mornings when I let the old gang out they all rush around to the new run and scowl at the girls through the bars. The two head girls have a sort of eye-to-eye staring match until the old one runs away to bully an bantam! (she's only just started this so I assume it's a reaction to changes in circumstances)

 

Once they are all out together in the pen lots of food/drink stations seemed to help a lot last time and in the early days I stood guard with the water sprayer. I will probably give it go this weekend with the new intake.

 

It's not nice to see the fighting but it will settle down in time - just can take a while. I think you have to watch if they draw blood as that seems to make the bullying worse although fortunately mine didn't get to that stage.

 

Good Luck

[LunaKiw1]

I was going to reply but reading the two replies you've already had I can't add anything as their advice is exactly what I'd be saying too! It is horrible watching the squabbling but giving thee lots of space so they can keep out of each other's ways and making sure there's a range of food and water stations really does help. good luck!

[Random_Girl66]

A quick follow up: i let the old girls meet the new girls yesterday afternoon and apart from some very minor and brief squabbles they seem to have settled down together really well. I'm quite proud of my oldies ! I had planned for a couple of "together" sessions each day over the weekend but it's been so quiet that I let them out first thing together and I think I will leave them to it now.

I will keep an eye on them though as I know that sometimes things start well and then go through a rough patch! They roost separately which seems to help.

 

So BokBok87, hopefully this will give a little comfort that things can settle down quite quickly (assuming mine stay calm!). How are your group coping now?

[mullethunter]

RandomGirl is your Wyandotte much bigger than your Pekin? From what others have said bantam Wyandottes vary a lot in size and I'm wondering if mine are bigger than normal. Do you have a photo?

 

I'm glad your intro's have gone so well

[Random_Girl66]

Hi MulletHunter, the Wyandotte is the only non-Pekin bantam I have had so not sure if she is a normal size. but yes, she is a little bigger than the Pekin and lays slightly bigger eggs (when she bothers with eggs!). I will try and sort out some photos for you over the next day or two.

 

Thanks re intros. Still all calm in the combined group! Holding my breathe a little at the moment.

[Random_Girl66]

As promised here is a pic of Boots and Zanzibar next to each other so that you can their comparative sizes . How does Zanzibar compare to other bantam Wyandottes?

 

(By the way both have just started a mild moult so not looking their best!!)

 

[mullethunter]

Thanks RandomGirl. My Pekins are only 22 weeks so will maybe grow a bit more yet, but certainly at the moment there's a bigger difference between my Pekins and Wyandottes than yours. I think maybe my Wyandottes might be a bit big for bantams maybe

[bokbok87]

So BokBok87, hopefully this will give a little comfort that things can settle down quite quickly (assuming mine stay calm!). How are your group coping now?

Hi a quick update! The two newbies are now being let out with the others to free range and they are all happily digging up the garden with no issues! They roost together as far as I can see fine! The only issue is breakfast time where the two oldies push the newbies out of their grub. There is a bit of head pecking every now and again but I think this is due to the pecking order.

We have a zero tolerance to bullying in our garden so if any blood will be drawn or feathers pulled out the bully will be separated again. I think where I am a new keeper I am over worried about everything. For now I will keep watching them and just leave them to it.

 

Thanks for all the advice - worked a treat!

[Luvachicken]

If it helps, when I had my Wyandottes they weighed approximately 2kg, and they were bantams, whereas all my pekins weigh under 1kg.

 

Love the photo RandomGirl66, they look a similar size to me (well not me, obviously - funny how you can read your own messages and realise they could mean something else)

[mullethunter]

I don't think my Wyandottes would keep still long enough for me to weigh them - they'd think they were being murdered! I might try though because I'd be interested to see what the sizes of mine are compared to yours luvachicken.

[Luvachicken]

mullethunter, you'd be surprised how quick you can weigh them, they don't need to keep still for long and of course they can have a reward after, so they soon learn that it's not so bad.

[mullethunter]

I only have balance type scales indoors for baking so they'd have to go in the fish weighing sling and be hung from the digital fish weighing scales Just thinking about it makes me

[Luvachicken]

I only have balance type scales indoors for baking so they'd have to go in the fish weighing sling and be hung from the digital fish weighing scales Just thinking about it makes me

 

Poor little things.

I have those balance scales too but the chooks get weighed on a set of cheap scales that you twist the bottom to make it read zero. Big enough for a chicken bottom to sit on - don't think they were very expensive.