This morning I went out at six o’clock to let the new girls out of their little coop. I undid the door and stood back and waited.
Six o’clock this morning
They were showing no sign of wanting to come out.
I lifted the lid to encourage them to come out
Still they showed no sign of wanting to come out. In the end I put my hand in and they jumped over the side of the coop to get away from me.
They stayed close to the big bush
They retreated to the bush until I had left their area then they both found the pellets and the water which was a good sign.
Suddenly Topaz and Speckles went at each other.
They tried to peck each other
Butterscotch is taking no notice at all and nor are the other girls.
Topaz had her wings held up and both girls had their ruffs raised
Luckily they couldn’t peck each other because there is a double layer of wire at the bottom of this section. I put it in after Topaz and Bluebell pecked each others comb on their first day of introductions.
Twice I picked Topaz up and removed her after they had gone the length of the enclosure. After this she gave me the angry eye and took herself away to sit in the little coop nest box for the morning.
At lunch time I got her out and the girls took no further notice of each other. I hoped that maybe they had got it sorted already.
Mid morning I gave the new girls their first spinach
They had a look and a peck but at lunch time it was still there. It will probably take a little while to cotton on to the treats.
This afternoon Topaz and Speckles did a bit more ruff raising but it wasn’t as intense as it was in the morning.
I gave all the girls some apple at lunch time but again the new girls ignored it. Before bedtime I gave them all some sunflower hearts and the new girls liked those.
At half past six the old flock were all in the new shed ready for bed but the new girls were still out. I wasn’t too worried as it was still light. I checked back a bit later and they were on top of the little coop. I decided to wait until dusk to check on them again. They were both on the little perch above the table which was the highest point in their area.
I was a bit worried how to get them in but in fact it was just like the old flock. I just picked them up from their perch and put them in the little coop. It was a relief that they allowed me to move them with no protest and was easier than past experiences.
Tomorrow I will give them the bigger area of half the run which this afternoon I have prepared ready for the morning. Then I think that by late afternoon I will open the gates and let them mix. Maybe the new girls will then follow the flock to bed in the new shed. I am thinking of moving it on quickly because I can see they won’t go to bed in their little coop. I don’t want any more bad habits and think that the sooner they go in the new shed with the rest of the flock the better.
The pecking order will have to be sorted one way or another but I think a quick integration is going to be the best solution as bantams want to go to bed high and the new shed is the best place for them and the sooner they reach that conclusion the better.
So onwards and upwards and watch this space tomorrow!
Click here to see the history of my flock.
Of course the lead hen will probably compete with a bold new hen. No worries though, they’ll work it out! 😉 Right now Speckles (mine) is chasing her babies around and squawking at them. I think she could be weaning them off of her giving them treats, but it’s very strange…
I agree, Topaz and Speckles need to work out who is where in the pecking order.
Your Speckles is probably ready to let her babies start fending for themselves. I read on blogs that this is always a moment when you think it is too soon and it’s hard to watch mum withdraw from the chicks. I had Peaches and Barley at six weeks old because that was when their mum decided enough was enough and withdrew from them.
Now that you say that, I realized the chicks are at about 6 weeks now…makes sense!
That does make sense. Catrin told me last summer that she had leghorn chicks and that if I rang her each week she would let me know when they were ready for me. She said as soon as the mum wanted nothing more to do with them I could take them and this was at six weeks. It was lovely for me as I could watch them grow up and they are much more attached to me because I had them so young. I was surprised that the mums let them go so young.
I think you had a successful first day.
I agree that the quicker introductions are done the better and your idea is a good one.
I can soon seperate them again if it does not quite work out .
It was great to see them yesterday and honoured that I was the first. They are be autifulr girls especcially the lovely Speckle.
They have the full length half of the run today and as you would guess Speckles was the first to explore the entire length. It is interesting how we are both drawn to Speckles because she has more character. It will make her the more difficult one to integrate though as she wants a higher pecking order.