mama chicken Posted June 21, 2020 Share Posted June 21, 2020 Hi All I have 3 hens and inherited a bird this weekend who sadly lost her owner. All birds are around the same age. We slipped her into the coop over night as advised, this was fine. However yesterday and today she is being picked on and blocked from eating by my original 3 girls I understand there is a pecking order to be established, but watching 3 birds attacking one is awful. we have a big run with a coop and a fenced area with small trees and bushes for them to scratch about in when not out in the main garden so space not an issue. However they are chasing & attacking this bird who has to hide almost constantly Not sure what to do for the best. I have let the 3 out in the garden so the new one has space to roam freely, eat and recover. Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Maggie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted June 21, 2020 Share Posted June 21, 2020 Introducing a single hen is always very difficult. At this point you best fence off part of the run for the new hen in sight of the others. You can slowly introduce het back into your flock by mingling them around a bit. Maybe one of your hens is less feisty and accepting. You can put that hen with the lone hen after a while. But it sounds like you need to take your time with this hen. If you’re not fencing off part of the run, then triple up on feeders and drinkers. Otherwise the others will keep her from feeding and drinking. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mama chicken Posted June 21, 2020 Author Share Posted June 21, 2020 Thank you for your reply, very helpful. I have put small feeding stations around in the hope she gets enough to eat and drink. My dominant hen seems to be the less feisty. Will try your idea. If all ok, Would you recommend putting these two together in a separate coop overnight to ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted June 21, 2020 Share Posted June 21, 2020 Difficult to say. Normally I would have said that chickens just go to sleep in the coop and if you just make sure the door stays open or open it early enough, you should be fine. That was until I had to rehome Pickwick2 because she was fighting the others in the coop in the middle of the night. You could take a chance, but stick around to monitor things. Even after they’ve gone to bed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
