Rehoming a chicken

[Bluefinch]

Good morning everyone.

My son sadly lost two of his hens to the fox a week ago leaving one lonely hen. He decided to give up the hens as he has now stopped working from home where he could keep an eye on them. I have adopted his hen and she is now with me in her coop and run.

My question is how long should I keep her in the run - my two are free range and are introducing themselves through the wire! She has been here since Monday. She seems happy enough and I have already had two eggs which is two more than my two have laid in the last week!

Is it too soon to let her out and eventually introduce my two to the coop and run which is bigger and where I would like all three to be at night.

[Mo]

When you do open the door maybe do it at dusk when they are thinking about bed. And don't worry if she doesn't go out. Watch what happens, let them sleep where they are used to. Then gradually earlier. When they take over her run they are mixed (unless you need to intervene).
My rule of thumb is about a week, but that's just a guess. So if you have more time to be around at the weekend start sooner.

[bikesandbirdsbob]

Hi much the same , I got cut of when we both replied together.
Plenty of room and escape routes for a retreat.
lots of food /water bowls so no need for a hungry girl.
Bob

[KarenE]

Hi Bluefinch

Difficult to say really, it depends on how well behaved your current two are! I would say if you're happy she knows where her coop is and goes to bed at night, then you can start letting her free range with the others, maybe later in the day towards dusk. I usually leave my newbies in their run for 3-4 days then start letting them free range. It's good to introduce while free ranging because there's lots of space for them to get away when needed. It'll also give the others a chance to explore the coop and run for themselves.

Make sure you have I would say 3 water and food stations around in the short term, and keep an eye on any pecking and bullying. If it looks like it's getting nasty use a water sprayer. They will settle down, I find it's usually okay in about 2 weeks altogether.

What do the other 2 nest in - do they have their own coop?

[Bluefinch]

Thank you for all your replies. I hadn't thought of leaving it until later in the day but it makes sense.

Karen my two have their own coop which they sleep in but I am hoping to get all three sleeping in the new coop soon which has a run and is a bit bigger which means that if we go out early in the evening before they are ready to go to bed I can at least make sure they are all safely in the run. Otherwise they will be free range.

Good idea about several food and water bowls. I will bear all that in mind. Maybe I'll give her one more day and then let her out late afternoon tomorrow.

[KarenE]

Hi

Your bigger challenge then may be to get your two moving into the new coop. When they are integrating a bit more, you may have to move your two into the coop yourself - wait till they are asleep in their old cop, then pick them up and put them into the new coop. You may have to do this a few times till they get the hint!

[Bluefinch]

Thanks for that tip Karen. I will wait until I know that they are getting along okay.

[Bluefinch]

She is very eager to get out now. Hope they get on.

[Bluefinch]

Well, I let her out yesterday and she seemed quite confident until one of mine (Bluebell) decided to tell her who is boss! They had a bit of a run in and then she hid for a while but came out not long after. I then saw them all wandering around the garden within a few feet of each other. Bluebell still likes to give her a little reminder that she is the new girl but I think (hope) that all will be well. After Blackie having survived a fox attack which took her two friends I really hope that all will be well here.

[Bluefinch]

Maybe I spoke too soon. I threw them some corn and Blackie (the new chicken) decided to go for Willow which has been accepting of her and has not tried to attack her and doesn't seem to fight back. But I suppose that is the way it will go for a while. I will live and learn.

[Mo]

Spread the corn out well next time.
Mind you I thought I had a happy flock with no particular boss-hen until I found an ant's nest and threw it into their run. Top hen was quite nasty to the others. They'd been together from the off.

[bikesandbirdsbob]

Hi , it is not a one off thing , pecking order changes all the time.
My girls have been well behaved for months then in the last few weeks they have kicked off again . flock members changing sides and basically making new alliances with each other . The boys seem baxck to chasing each other as the girls have increased the egg laying .
Would not get to worried unless injuries start happening .
Bob

[KarenE]

Blackie is not going to want to be bottom hen, and so she will be trying it on with any chicken she thinks she can dominate. Possibly Willow may fight back, or she may just slip into a lower rank in the pecking order. Bluebell obviously has put Blackie in her place already - below her!

All perfectly natural, and you can expect there to be more handbags until everyone has sorted their pecking order out again. Just keep an eye on them over the next couple of days to make sure there's no nasty bullying.

As Mo says, scatter treats widely so they aren't in each other's way - it will bring out the worst in them. I've stopped giving treats now in the early stages of intros as it seems to bring out antagonism.

Don't worry, it all sounds like it's going pretty smoothly so far

[Bluefinch]

Thanks everyone. I am learning lots on here. I was brought up on a farm with chickens, bantams, ducks etc but this is the first time I have had my own chooks and am responsible for their welfare. They are such time wasters - I can watch them for ages and each time I go out into the garden they come running over to see what I'm up to and of course great companions along with the cat when I'm gardening waiting for all the goodies.

[Freeranger]

When you give treats, rather than doing the natural thing of throwing them to the hens, try putting them where the hens aren't - so they have to go to it, and top hen will be first and so distracted. If you put it down in four places, the top hen can't cover all the bases even if inclined to be a bit aggressive, and they can all get some. I think they sort of learn after a bit that food isn't worth fighting over.