[weezyorange]

Please can anybody give me some advice!

I have two old hens (clarkson and hammond) who moved from my little 2up 2down in manchester to my large garden in the cambridgeshire countryside. They are really pretty and great layers, and we decided as we  now have the space we would expand our flock.

We bought three pullets from a neighbour, and put them in with the older hens. The older hens were not impressed with them and clarkson in particular started bullying them and plucking them.

We decided to separate them and put the pullets in a pen of their own next to the older hens.
Whilst all this was going on i noticed that clarkson had almost no feathers on her underside and whilst i sat out watching them, noticed that hammond was following clarkson around the pen, plucking her and eating the feathers. I am now worried she is turning into a cannibal! the food we give has adequate protein, so i dont know if it is that.

Anyway, long story short. We cannot seem to get the older girls to accept the new hens (one of which has turned our to be a cock! - i was hoping he would keep the others in line but he is such a wimp!). Is there anything i can do, will i ever be able to integrate these old girls into a new flock, and what can i do about my feather eater ?!( I have read somewhere that there is very little i can do about her and she is destined for the pot)

Sorry for the long post, i just want them all to get along!

Louisa

[Roughlee Handled]

I have two old hens (clarkson and hammond) .....
We bought three pullets from a neighbour, and put them in with the older hens.
The older ....clarkson in particular started bullying them and plucking them.
.... i noticed that clarkson had almost no feathers on her underside and whilst i sat out watching them, noticed that hammond was following clarkson around the pen, plucking her and eating the feathers. ........
Louisa

Ok how old are the three new birds?
How big is the that they are in when together?

It is normal for the older birds to stamp their authority. Unfortunately I would leave them to it I know it looks bad but that is chicken hierarchy for you. Remove them if there is open wounds. But for any scratches or slight blood marks treat with purple spray and put back.  Chickens are attracted to the colour red or blood colour and it will concentrate the attract on that area making it worse.

Feather eating can be a sign of a deficiency of minerals and protein. What feed to you give? Do you give any supplements?  You could put Stockholm Tar on to the affected area

[andreadon]

it's always hard when you put new birds in (i love the names for the oldies, btw!)

If you are getting blood drawn, or it seems too relentless, you could separate the run so that they can see each other but not touch.
I put a chicken wire partition down the centre (ish) and let them talk to each other.
Quite often, if you put the oldies on the unfamiliar side and the newbies in the familiar-to-the-oldies side, it should even it out.
don't forget to allow the oldies access to their house cos they'll want to lay eggs!

and if you always put them in at night together, it should be easier/quicker to get them together in the end.
(although we put our new ones in together from the beginning, Rita (2nd lot) goes inthe house, the two originals go up on a high shelf and the newbies perch on top of the house - then when it's dark we have to go round and put them all in the house! 
once they're in they just go to sleep.

hope that helps a bit!

[weezyorange]

well i did it. I put them all in together on the 12th and they're still picking on the babies today. I had to remove one of the young girls today who was receiving the brunt of it as all her tail feathers have gone bar one and she is now bleeding ( i am also unsure if one of the older hens has broken / dislocating one of her wings!). She is now re-couperating quietly in a box in the kitchen.

How long will this go on for before it settles down! Im really worried!

[andreadon]

use purple spray to heal the wounds, too - it's an anti-septic and it gets rid of the redness.

If they're still being mean, then I would completely separate them for a while - have their own house if possible (we just made a simple box one out of tongue and groove) and a run-within-a-run.

Sometimes it happens that it takes longer for the pecking order to sort itself out - especially if the newbies aren't fully grown.

[weezyorange]

Unfortunately i dont have any purple spray, i do have ukadex to repel the bullies but thats about it so far. I dont know of anywhere that sells it locally, especially on a sunday! 

[raeburg]

Is there a Countrywide store near you?  They are open on Sundays usually.

[weezyorange]

my nearest one is over an hour away. I'm in cambridgeshire and it is near rugby. pants!

[mumsy]

When I introduce new girlies it has always taken about 4/5 weeks, separated, in view, feeding their corn on the edge of the fencing, so its like they are sharing !!

[weezyorange]

ahhh, that might be a good idea. like i said one of mine had been really badly attacked so i dont want to put them at unnescessary risk.

[weezyorange]

I would like to offer my sincere thanks to all those who gave me advice during the introduction of my two flocks. The four girls and cock now all live happily together, with only the occasional strops from the older girls. My chooks are so much happier and settled and my work mates think im bonkers for being so happy over my chooks being friends!

Thanks again everyone!
A very gratefull Louisa

[Roughlee Handled]

Well thank you for saying thank you. Its not often that people take the time to say thank you.