AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

Hi

First of all I just want to say that I love this website! It has helped me greatly with all my chook problems!

Unfortunately, I had to put to sleep my beautiful black hen Elizabeth on Friday which has left me with only one hen a two and a half year old Isa Brown named Olivia. She is a lovely little hen that was hand raised from a day old chick. She loves her chooki life but it breaks my heart to see her by herself in the backyard without her bff. I know she would be missing her.

Therefore i decided to get a friend for her. A friend of mine gave me one of his black hens. She is about 3 years old, lays well and in good condition. Unfortunately, they hate each other! From the moment she got there they fought through the chicken wire. I put the new chook in a separate pen but when Olivia came near the fighting started again. I then took the new chook out in the back yard with Olivia and they really had a ding dong battle even drawing blood from their combs and a few feathers pulled out. I separated them and havent tried again. They still have a ago at each other through the wires though.

I now have my friend swapping the black hen for a younger black hen and giving this a try???

This is totally stressing me out as all I want is a friend for Olivia but as she was the head hen in my once flock of 3 she isnt going to give up her throne!

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

thanks
Natlie

The Girls,

Deepest condolences on the death of Elizabeth, may she rest in peace in chookie heaven.

Sorry that it has been so stressful, could you possibly get another chook, it may be easier integrating 2 new girls than one.

The girls are just sorting the pecking order, chookies can be down right mean, nasty and vicious. Time and physical space are the keys to a successful integration. You could also try putting the new girl or girls in at night with Olivia so that they all wake up together, let them free range together perhaps?

There are a number of topics in "Chickens" on integrating chooks.

hope that they become the bestest of friends like my girls.

fully agree with this....remember the Isa was there first...and she firmly believes it is her territory.....and...they don't call it a pecking order for no reason....good idea putting the new girl in at night...I always do this....

Thanks fellow chook lovers for your help!

The new hen is coming tomorrow so I will try putting her in at night although I wanted to quarantine her for a few days as the last one seemed to have a mild dose of mites.

I have been reading the "chicken" section and there is also some excellent ideas there too!

Its hard to watch your favourite hen getting attacked...mind you she does give as good as she gets! ha!

thanks again
The Girls

ps I loved your photo of your girls Petite Poulet, they look adorable.

Sometimes taking out the old chook, putting her into the smaller cage and the newby into the run, then re-introducing the old chook a couple of days later can do the trick. There still might be a bit of a scuffle though.

Hi TheGirls

Welcome to the forum.

I am having a bit of trouble myself integrating a newbie into the mix as well, and believe me it doesn't matter if it's one your trying to introduce or several, it can get ugly.

I know it is totally stressing me out as well because I can't stand seeing any of them ganging up or fighting with each other. Feathers, blood, sqwarking, gashes, the whole shebang is what I'm seeing at the moment.

I have also been doing a lot of reading and have lerned that due to chooks having a distinct "pack" smell that a new chook won't have the same smell as the existing pack, and in your case, the same smell as your beloved (RIP) Elizabeth. Which is why Olivia doesn't like/know the newbie.

I read the other day that when you are ready to integrate (after the quarantine period of about 2 weeks) that free-ranging, to start, is the way to go, then putting the newbie in an enclosure within the enclosure and then when you are ready to try and put them into sleep at night that you can try rubbing a dryer sheet on all of the chooks, so they have the same scent, or, spray each chook with vinegar to try & achieve the same effect.

So far I have done the free ranging thing, then Sunday I dusted them all for lice with Pestene so they all had that scent all over them & then I placed my baby in with the big girls for the night. Funnily enough they moved over for her on the perch so she could jump up, and yesterday she was still picked on but not as badly as it was when I first tried.

My newbie still hides up on anything she can to get away from the big girls, but at least she is in there with them and I am closely monitoring them all, to make sure they don't kill her.

But, yes, very stressful indeed.

Hope any of my tips might help.

Cheers
Chicka-Dee

Hello Chick a Dee,

That's very interesting about the pack smell, it seems the more we research chookies the more complicated their behavior seems to be.

We too tried integrating our silkies with the big girls but didn't have any luck as one of our girls has funny legs and she was getting pecked constantly. She also couldn't use the long ladder from the sleeping quarters to the ground. I came home after a full day of work to find her still upstairs. I felt like a neglectful mother .

Anyway I am a little wiser now and hope with newbies in the future things will work out better.

Maybe you can modify the long ladder into a ramp for your chook with with the "funny legs"? You are very handy with the power tools. Are the Silkies still in separate pens?

Even reintroducing a broody back to the flock can be carnage, chooks sense weaknesses.

Yes, very interesting about the "pack" smell, any particular type of vinegar, like Apple Cider? A sprinkle of salt perhaps

Free ranging one of the best ways for chooks to get to know each other, plenty of space and minimal territorial wars also there is an escape route if under attack as if you are in a confined space you can be cornered with no way out and no where to go.

Thanks everybody for your helpful tips.

I'm still waiting for my new chook but I'm sure I will be trying all the ideas above to achieve a successful introduction!

So far Olivia doesn't seem to mind being by herself, although she does come to the back step every now and then and scream for me just to make sure I'm there! She's a funny little hen that I adore.

All the best to everyone else with their introductions. I will keep you posted about how Olivia goes!

The Girls

HH
Yes the new silkies and sir saffron are in an adjacent pen to the big girls. We still have one silkie (penny the cute little black one) in with the big girl pen. I need to extend the coop the silkies are in or make a new one then Penny can be integrated with the silkies. We have free ranged them all together but they go in separate directions. If we pick up penny and put her near the new silkies she runs as fast as she can back to peaches and Rosie. It's so cute to watch her run.

I have decided to keep two pens, one with standard size chookies and one with silkies. So I need to make a larger coop for the silkies. I will start on it this weekend. I love the power tools. I just bought a new makita drill and impact driver for myself.

Salt and vinegar

I can't wait to get some new chicks and integrate them with the big girls when they are big enough.