Re: Adding a new hen to small chicken flock

On 20 Oct 2005 10:16:31 -0700, "Kathrin" <markatker@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>Hi! I have 3 chicken (all hens) that I keep in a 6x10x6 completely
>enclosed dog kennel. They also have an extra nesting/sleeping house
>attached. I just introduced a 4th hen to the flock and it gets attacked
>everytime it enters the kennel. So it stays most of the time in the
>nesting house or on a very high roost in the kennel. It it tries to mix
>in with the others, the main hen jumps on her and pecks her really
>quick on the back. It don't seem like it is a very violent attack, but
>enough to send the new hen whining back into the house. She seems to be
>really afraid, even though she is as big as the attacker. This is going
>on for 5 days now. I am thinking to get another one this weekend, that
>would be the last one. I don't know if that is ever gonna end or what?
>Sometimes I separate them for an hour to give the new hen an
>opportunity to eat and drink in piece. I just started a year ago having
>chicken and I don't know too much about their peck order. I just
>assumed hens get along. What would be the right thing to do? Just let
>them be? Thank you very much for your time.

You should keep them separated for a couple of weeks in a cage for a quarantine,
anyway. New chickens can bring diseases into your flock and cause problems for
your chickens. Keeping them in a cage where your old chickens can see them might
help them get used to them a bit easier, but they'll still have to find their
place in the pecking order when they're turned loose to join the flock.
.

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