As much as I like the idea of a closed flock – one that is raised together and never exposed to other chickens – there are times when I do add a hen into my established group. I do this with trepidation, as it is rarely easy to integrate a new chicken into a mature flock. Chickens establish a pecking order. Once it is in place you shouldn’t notice it much. Closely observe your flock and you’ll notice subtle body language. Perhaps when a treat is put down the highest status hen will get it first and keep others away. You’ll see some hens always at the outskirts and others keeping a clear distance from birds that they don’t get along with. Where chickens roost is determined by the pecking order. Bring in a new chicken and the established routine is upset. The hens lowest on the pecking order will challenge the newcomer to see if they can move up. Your dominant hen will want to ensure that she keeps her place. Everyone will tell the new hen to go away. The behavior can range from pinning the new hen down and pecking at her head (which can kill), to chest thumping, chasing, and blood letting. Less severe reactions to a new hen will be to pull feathers and keep her away from food. Even if you have only one or two hens and you want to add a “friend” your chickens won’t see it that way and drama will ensue.
That said, it is possible to increase your flock size by adding a mature hen to the group. This past weekend I had to bring Beulah, a Black Star, back into the fold. After starting out her life here, she left as a young pullet to be part of the nursing home group. When it became clear that Beulah was pecking too severely at her flock mates I decided to take her back. In this case I didn’t have to worry about bringing in disease, so no quarantine was necessary. I just had to integrate her with her old chickmates.
I have no idea if she remembered the coop or the hens. I think that she at least recognized this place, as she looked comfortable and familiar with the surroundings and seemed to know where to go. But, before she could explore and meet the Ladies, I put her into the rabbit hutch so that she could see the flock and they could see her.
The next day I put her into the storage side of the Little Barn. There’s a screen door so everyone could eyeball each other. Beulah felt comfortable enough to lay an egg.
Since there was no chest-thumping and challenges across the screen door, I moved on to the next stage which was to put the new hen in the same space with the flock. I let the Ladies out onto the lawn, and then brought Beulah to join them. It’s always best when integrating a new hen into a flock to do it on neutral turf away from the coop, and in a space large enough so that the hens can make grand gestures, but have plenty of space to move away from each other.
It’s also good to have distracting things to eat. The hens were so excited about seeing the ground and green (albeit frozen) grass, that they began grazing and ignored Beulah. For awhile she was able to eat alongside of the others
But then the other hens noticed the interloper in their midst. They told her to go away and she moved off.
I didn’t see severe aggression, so I tossed some scratch grains into the pen and invited everyone in. Once again, Beulah was able to join the flock until the food ran out. Once the grain was eaten up, she was relegated to the outskirts, but no one attacked her, which was very good behavior on the part of the Ladies.
Things were going well, but as it grew dark, I put Beulah back into the rabbit hutch. I didn’t want her to be crowded in with the others in the morning before I opened the pop-door. As much as they were getting along in a large area, I didn’t think that things would go so well if they were all confined to the coop.
The next morning I let Beulah back out. The hens mingled. Misty, the highest status hen, made sure that Beulah stayed at the fringes. It started to lightly snow. Everyone wanted to go inside. Misty had no desire to accept Beulah into the coop. Beulah stood at the ramp, looking in. I was pleased that she wasn’t being chased away from the entrance, and she wasn’t huddling in a corner (as some rejected hens do.) But, she was getting snowed on, and so I tucked her back into the hutch. Then I went into coop. Although the Ladies look healthy and in fine feather, and the flock dynamics appeared to be peaceful, the time spent watching Beulah interact with them raised some red flags. I’d noticed that Owly is missing feathers along her neck, and I was mildly concerned about Beatrix, who seemed to be occasionally fluffed up in an unhappy stance. I decided to spend some time watching the Ladies. The key to taking good care of your animals is to spend quiet time observing them. This often doesn’t happen in winter when the temps are well below freezing. Within a half-hour of watching, I discovered a serious problem.
Misty is a feather picker. I saw her walk up to Owly, who stood there placidly, while she pulled feathers out of her neck. Misty did the same to Beatrix and even to the higher status Nancy Drew. Bad behavior is not always accompanied by commotion, so this had been going on for awhile without me knowing it. Feather picking is very bad, and I’ll write about it in my next post.
Misty was brazen in her behavior, so I scooped her up and had her swap places with Beulah. Now Beulah could join the flock, while Misty paced inside of the hutch.
Beulah decided to leave the snow and go into the coop. There was a bit of consternation. She smartly got onto the roost. Twiggy and Beatrix moved in to get a closer look.
Beatrix, hoping to increase her status against this interloper, pecked at Beulah’s head. Beulah was taking it and I didn’t want to see blood, so I needed to stop this behavior. All I had to do was to put my hand between them. Beatrix tried four times, encountered my hand (I didn’t push her, I simply gently blocked her pecking), gave up, and went back to the floor of the coop.
Within minutes, I was quite pleased to see this body language. The flock was going about their busy day, ignoring the new hen. Beulah was comfortably on the roost, not being harrassed.
Then it got better. Twiggy and Veronica hopped onto the roost. They each selected a rung, and all three started preening. Birds only groom themselves when they feel safe and comfortable.
And then Veronica took a nap.
Success! Beulah got to stay with the Ladies. Misty spent the night in the hutch. More about that story tomorrow.
I’m glad it went smoothly.
I hate to introduce “adult” chickens to a flock. I have done it over the years with mixed results. Sometimes it goes smoothly other times it’s just a disaster.
Hi Terry. I was just wondering if you let Misty out to free range. She’s here and there, and right now on top of the goats fencing. I just was hoping if you didn’t know I would bring it to your attention.
Dang. I clipped her wings, too.
She’s in the yard now, without any fencing. She is a beauty. Flies very good, too!
If I ever get the chance, I’m going to get one like her. I probably wouldn’t get that striking black on red color though. I guess Andalusians are like a box of cracker jacks. Never know what your going to get.
PS- Meaning the black and red is what I would want, just probably not lucky enough to get it. I thought the soft gray was pretty, but I like that black and red.
I think if you were seeing black and red, you were probably looking at one of the Black Stars – either Nancy Drew or Beulah – because Misty has dark blue/black feathering, with no red.
I’m talking about the comb and waddles. They’re red, and looks amazing on all that black. Misty is what I would call a bodacious beauty. I’m pretty sure that was Misty running like there was no tomorrow, but I’ve been wrong before.
You’re not wrong, you’re talking about Misty. But, as you’ve noticed, she can fly, and she’s flighty. The Andalusians are very active so I’d hesitate to bring one into a flock that is mostly penned. This is my first, and now I know!
I don’t have the room for my flock that you do and I will be taking your advice. I will enjoy Misty on your hencam. Stay safe and warm through your storm! Spring isn’t far away.
Alas, the goats aren’t shedding at all yet, so we’ve got a bit more winter up here.
I attempted to add 2 new chicks to my year-old ladies. The hand block is a very useful move!
Twiggy is such a beautiful girl… when all of mine die (i’ll never do the chick integration again!!!) i will have to get one like Twiggy.
Twiggy is wonderful and a good layer.
I’ve never introduced an adult bird, only chicks. I find a wire dog crate in the run is helpful. The biguns have a chance to get used to the littluns being in their space without being able to reach them.
Yes, I recommend having new birds (whatever the age) go through a period of seeing but not touching.
I do not have chickens, but can relate with my 9 cockatiels. I have 3 pluckers and it is a daily chore to separate them from the flock and cage them. What will you do to Misty if she continues picking?
For parrots or cockatiels can you use blinders or pinless peepers like you can in chickens and pheasants to stop the feather eating ?
I never heard of blinder or Pinless peepers for parrots. I will have to look into that.
Lori
I don’t like pinless peepers. It’s a temporary fix and when they are removed, nothing has changed. They work by interfering with the bird’s sight, and I don’t like that either.
Pinless peepers used to be used (and sometimes still are) in crowded conditions on farms. They are not a long-term solution for chickens that live a long time in backyard flocks.
These would not work, cockatiels depend on preening from others and this is when the plucking occurs. They are also smart enough to remove them.
I’m really looking forward to hearing about how you handle Misty. I have 3 hens and one is a feather plucker- she damaged the other two so much last year, and we were doing really well this year (they had grown in new feathers after a molt) until about a week ago. She’s back to pecking/plucking and has snipped off the tops of the feathers of one hens bustle already. She’s in isolation now, but I think the behavior spread to another of the hens. I’m ready to separate them all with dog crates in hopes they forget about the bad habit, but I don’t know if that would work or not.
Stay tuned! :)
Feather picking, yikes! Good luck fixing that!
Are you having “computer” issues or is it me? There were nothing but blank spaces where the pics should be. I clicked on the spaces and got pics on a separate page. Also, no video! It keeps saying there is an error. (Technology and I don’t get along so well, so it could just be me :( )
Computer issues. Should be resolved. It’s very, very complicated running HenCam (even though we pay a lot for the things necessary to run it) and some things are out of our control. Sorry! Hopefully, all is back up. Now let’s hope it stays up through the snowstorm tomorrow :)
Poor Misty! Will she be grounded for a long time?
I don’t think that you have to say “poor Misty.” She was a dominant hen, making life miserable for those around her. She’ll acclimate just fine in the new group, and they’ll keep her in line. As far as not flying – if I could stop it, I would. I can’t keep her safe from predators if she doesn’t stay close to home.
Okay I have three guesses as are what is going to happen with Misty.
1. She will be put in time out for a few days, and maybe placed with the Gems
2. She will be rehomed with the Nursing home hens, but that one I doubt.
3. Pinless peepers and there fore if your want too you can put googly eyes on them Terry.
Again, I’ll say, NO to the pinless peepers.
Another negative to pinless peepers is that when they are removed the hens won’t recognize their flockmates since they haven’t seen them in awhile and it will be chaos! This happened to a friend of mine and those pinless peepers went right in the trash!
A side note – your hens look so healthy!
I just love reading about your chickens and goats and Phoebe too. Very dreary, heavy snow coming again and your posts brighten my day. Thanks!!
You’re welcome. Heavy snow here, too, and there will be a lot of it. It’ll be a challenge to shovel.
Maybe Misty’s picking has been why Beatrix has been staying inside on the roost so much lately?
Unfortuntately, no. Beatrix is having laying difficulties and I’ll be giving her a spa bath soon.
Oh I hope her spa treatment helps!
Loved that post, very helpful as I’m currently trying to integrate 3 Pekins into an existing flock of a bantam Leghorn, bantam OEG and a bantam Ancona. It’s quite difficult as the Leghorn can be very vicious when she wants to be. Can your Twiggy be like that at times?
You’ve picked some of the most difficult breeds, no wonder you’re having difficulty. Bantams have different personalities than the standard sized birds, so there’s really no comparison. When integrating bantams, make sure you have outside roosts, and they like low, sheltered places to scoot under.
Okay thanks. But no, Pekins are true bantams, slightly smaller than normal bantams but the Leghorn and the others are all bantams. They’re all good flyers though so I think they will be able to get out of the Leghorn’s way.
I know that Pekins are bantams :) What I meant was that my bantam Leghorn has a different personality than my large Leghorn.
Wow Terry, have just checked in with Hencam – that snow!!? And its still falling! The girls look fine in their warm barns and I havent seen any evidence of harrassment of Beulah. Is Misty still in the hutch?
MIsty is in the big barn, already nicely integrated with the Gems. Half a watermelon had them distracted from the new girl this morning.