While I was working a twelve hour shift yesterday four more hens were brought over and placed inside the chicken coop/stall. These are older hens who have slowed down egg production a bit that the orchard owner gave to us. They are big girls and around 3 years old or so.
The four new hens stayed inside the large pet carrier inside the coop all day so there would be at least a little getting to know each other time before they were turned loose. Just about roosting time I went down and opened the door to the pet carrier and allowed the hens to begin mingling.
The plan seems to have worked fairly well. I know I should leave em separated a bit longer but that isn't really possible the way things have worked out. My reasoning right now is that the various small groups coming in are all in new surroundings and coming from different pecking orders anyway so they won't form a big team against one or two individulas and hurt them.
One of the Bigger Black Hens immediately took charge though and within a few minutes there was no denying the fact that she was the leader of the new coop group.
I watched them until they all settled in for the night to make sure the new hens weren't going to fight and besides a bit of surprisingly gentle pecking there was little real argument towards the new rules. The first group of younger hens all seemed to pretty much acknowledge the four new Black hens were taking precedence. My assumption was that the five younger hens were fairly low in the pecking order before I got them anyway and they haven't been their own little group long enough to change their attitude much yet.
The one Black Hen did have a few squabbles with the larger Red hen but it seemed it was more a champion fight to settle the group dynamics and not for individual leader.
The Roosters of course are going to add their own interesting twist to this newly forming dynamic when I let the hens out I imagine. The roosters have come up and peeked inside the coop a few times talking to the hens so they all know the others are around now.
We are still waiting on three more hens from another source tomorrow and I am looking to get four more to round out the hen numbers to 16. I am hoping as I said the newness and such will allow for much easier introductions. The first test seems to have been a success.
This morning I noticed the dog had moved one of the concrete blocks a bit. He still kinda wants some chicken. That is going to have to be dealt with. I can already see there are some coop improvements and changes I want to make once I begin letting the girls free range. I don't want to go in there right now banging around and digging unless I have to yet.
My theory about adding in the four older Black hens is that these girls will know how to handle the two remaining roosters. The rooster they had to deal with at their old home was a big old boy himself and I watched them a few times while over checking my bees and they didn't take any shit from him either. I noticed more than once a black hen chasing the old rooster off when he was a bit too insistent with his attentions. That's the kind of experience our newly forming flock needs. Since they come from a large flock themselves I also figured they would be able to handle this new flock as the top of the pecking order as it forms and shakes the social issues out.
Oh we also got three more eggs this morning.
The Long awaited Small-Hold chicken flock is finally coming about.
Since we got another 3 inches of rain this morning I guess I am going to work inside the barn keeping an eye on the new hens, predator proofing and arranging things as best I can without disturbing the forming pecking order any more than I have to.
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!!
Get a shock collar, and don't mess around with the lower settings (like I did). As soon as they show interest with their ears or body language zap em. Then leave them alone and watch from the window and zap them again so they know it works when you aren't around.
ReplyDeleteMy lab ate two and was on her way out the door since she couldn't get along with any other animal on the property, but shock collars adjust that attitude quick. She can now be outside unattended while the chickens free range, she doesn't chase the cats and I don't have to worry about the neighbors shooting her for chasing horses. You can get a good waterproof one for about $50 on amazon.
Anon - Good advice. We have discussed the shock collar thing a time or two already. There are two reasons we haven't done it yet though. The first being that when this dog showed up here six years ago he was a cat killer and chaser and now the cats will walk right up to him and stand on him like he was one of the humans. He figured out the cats were as welcomed here as he was. The second is that he has already showed some signs of ignoring the roosters. Some is the operative word there. That is kinda the same general way he acted towards the cats as we were breaking him of going after them. We maybe making some progress.
DeleteOh the third reason is that once the dog got zapped with some fence wire I had just put up and he looked at me like a shot him and ran away for almost two days. I am kinda afraid if I shock him and he knows it he might not come back :)
Sounds like you are thinking right about the whole chicken thing. If you are real lucky one of the roosters will take an almost guardian like role toward the hens and watch out for predators. I have had a couple like that and they will give a warning when a large bird flies near. If I throw bread or some treat into the hens, the rooster will call the hens to it and not eat any until they have had their fill. I have seen them pick up something and call a hen over and she will take it out of his beak. When I had more than one rooster, they would get pretty violent at times making their own pecking order but it settles down to two pecking orders, the hens and the roosters and the old hens kind of rule the roost as they say. We have some 4 year old hens that most would have stewed by now but they gave so many eggs and we aren't hungry so they are kind of there to keep order I suppose.
ReplyDeleteSf - That was exactly my reasoning and I picked some of that up from reading about your own chicken adventures. I figured the old hens would be of some value to a mostly young flock like I am building. The roosters are still the wild card. They seem very easy to get along with so far but will they convince the hens to roost in the main part of the barn and not the coop? Will they kill each other or become aggressive to the humans when the hens are introduced? Going to take several weeks to shake all these issues out at least I imagine.
DeleteSounds like your plan is working so far. Seems to make a lot of sense to me!
ReplyDeleteDFW - So far. That little Black and White hen is going to be a problem though as she is now showing herself adept at finding little holes and getting out. It's amazing how many of those little holes I missed though.
Deletegood for her, she is pointing out the rat entrances to you. very useful
DeleteLooks like its all going great in the chicken department, I am hoping to pick up six new ones tomorrow :-)
ReplyDeleteDawn - I just want to get them used tot he coop and get to the point I can start letting them out so I can do more work around the pen. I don't wanna go in there banging around while they are inside right yet.
DeletePredator proofing... that proved to be a major ordeal here. But finally we did get the coop so raccoons could not get in it! They were the worst of our predators to deal with. .
ReplyDeleteThere is also a collar that sprays some scent that is unpleasant to dogs. I've seen it used on a TV show but I can't remember what the scent was.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by today and leaving some comments I know your busy with everything. I keep thinking about your birds and then try to compare to the Farm the boys work at. 16 vs 2 million forget it no sense trying LOL. The cannery here is in full swiming after being shut down due to the rain earlier in the week.
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