[karenjayne]

We had three chickens until yesterday, when one died, having had trouble trying to lay an egg.  the problem being it was my son(whose autistic) chicken named Snow, a white ranger so layed white eggs.   would it be safe to get another one, as my son is very upset.  the other two chickens are very friendly with each other.  they are about 8 months old.

[joyfull]

sorry you lost your chicken, however it is never a good idea to introduce just one at a time, chickens are very territorial and will see the newcommer as an intruder (imagine coming home and finding a stranger sat on your sofa saying they now lived there as well  ). Ideally you need to introduce a pair and keep these seperate for a couple of weeks incase they are harbouring any infections. Keep them in a seperate run and coop but in full view of each other and gradually move them all closer to each other.

Welcome to the forum by the way 

[karenjayne]

thought that might be the case.  unfortunately dont want to get another coop as the one we got is suitable for 3 -4 chickens.  although i do have a seperate run we could use.  i would be happy to just keep the other two on their own, but my son says he never eating eggs again!  he only ever eat the white ones!  so a mistake in itself to buy 3 different coloured chickens!

[Jane-M]

You don't need another coop as such, I use a guinea pig ark if it's only one hen. You can probably borrow one from someone.

I have succeeded in introducing a single hen to my flock of a dozen. Same method, as above and the one I use for introducing all new hens - separate run inside the main run so they can see each other but not commit mayhem. You'll find small mesh is good as they will peck eather other through bigger mesh. It may take a couple of weeks, and even then there's likely to be some bullying/fighting, so just keep a close eye on them. It was quite astonishing to see my little silkie taking on hens twice her size - if I hadn't known they were hens I'd have thought it was a cockfight. I have now introduced several lots of new birds and they have all settled given time and space, but even introducing 2 or 3 together some get bullied more than the others. Hornery critters, hens.

[Jeanette]

Sorry i agree with joyful, it is never a good idea to introduce one chicken to the others it would be picked on relentlessly it is much better to get two more then it wont be so bad.

[Jane-M]

Fair enough, but I am speaking from my own experience, and it can work with care.

[karenjayne]

thanks for that divided opinion.  will have a think about what to do, as  was thinking being winter, it may be easier to introduce one slowly to coop and keep it seperate in the day time.