Introducing chickens

paidinchickens

I have three normal farmhouse chooks and I have just had a phone call asking if I wanted 3 bantam chickens as they have been dumped. I'm not to up to speed on what the circumstances are.

If I home them willl I be able to mix them with my ladies or will the attack them?

PiCx

sairy2010

You will be able to put them together eventually but they need to be introduced gradually. The best way is to have a hut and run within their run, so they can see each other first. If this is not possible which it usually isn't then try to separate them in the run and put then in the hut at night when the others have gone to bed. They will fight a bit to start with until they establish a pecking order. The last time I got some new chickens my one and only hen really took to them but this is unusual.
Bantam eggs are lovely, little eggs with a higher percentage of yolk to white. Children love them.

sunnysurrey_2

Hi it's best to quarantine the new hens before intergrating to ensure they aren't carrying anything nasty. So if possible a separate house & run within sight of each other for 2 weeks

sunnysurrey_2

Hi it's best to quarantine the new hens before intergrating to ensure they aren't carrying anything nasty. So if possible a separate house & run within sight of each other for 2 weeks then start letting them freerange together if that's your setup - & see how it goes

GeekPetite

We have 7 chickens at the moment, and we've done introductions three times now. We had one bantam in with our full sized girls and she settled in fine, although sometimes as they're smaller they can get picked on a lot. But with 3 I'd think they'd stick together.

We have a separate roost and run which we set up for the new arrivals, so that everyone can see each other but they most they can do is a quick peck through the bars. After a week we alternate days for free ranging, so that the new girls get used to the whole garden. After 2 weeks we allow them both to free range together.

Be warned, there will be pecking. The first two introductions we did went very smoothly but the last time they all piled on one chicken and wouldn't stop even though she had clearly submitted. We could see blood and once they see it chickens don't stop, so we separated them and applied some purple gentian spray to the wound so that the dried blood is less easy to see.

I love keeping chickens, and I'd have a dozen if I had the time & money. Go for it!