proud owner of 2 new chickens

[hawthorns]

went to chicken man today and picked up 2 new chickens to add to our exsisting 2. we got a bluebelle and a speckled star. just put them to bed and both are very tame for new birds.

[shirlthegirl43]

How lovely - piccies please Hawthorns

[hawthorns]

yeah will get some 2moro along with new walk in run

[lainey lou]

ooooooh! I'm jealose I want a bluebelle. Where did you get them from?

[hawthorns]

from an agent of meadowsweet poultry. just the other side of malmesbury they had alsorts of chickens over there. must be 200+. they are so tame, lovely birds. am now thinking of getting a cube. would like to get a sussex star and amber star but will have to wait.

[MaureenHall]

I had my Bluebelles from Cotswold Chickens, they have all sorts of breeds there too

[RedThorn]

from an agent of meadowsweet poultry. just the other side of malmesbury they had alsorts of chickens over there. must be 200+. they are so tame, lovely birds. am now thinking of getting a cube. would like to get a sussex star and amber star but will have to wait.

I only got an eglu as I was lucky enough to be given one...... Convert a shed and the you can have lots more!!!..... *strolls off the a grin to the Norty step*, but seriously they are nice, but out of my budget!

[Eyren]

Ooh, now I'm jealous! I'd love a couple more banties but the basic eglu run isn't really big enough

There's plenty of room in the eglu itself, though, so I will have to look at the financial sitch and see if I can persuade the OH that I need a walk-in run...

[Nicos]

That's lovely news!!..lucky you!

[lainey lou]

How are the new birds and old girls getting on?

[hawthorns]

they sleep all together in the eglu house last nite. went to check on them and there was only 3 in there. panic panic where is the other 1. she was all alone in the corner of the walk in run so i picked her up and persuaded her to go in. this morning they were slow to come out but when they did i seperated them from the old 2. but just b4 i did the gingernut ranger (the 1 with the bumper bit) charged at the speckled star and bumped into her making her squark. they have been divided all day by mesh.

was wondering how long should i do this until i let them mingle together

[MaureenHall]

You'll need to do it for as long as it takes them all to accept each other properly. As long as they're all sleeping together and can see each other during the day, probably not too long

[hawthorns]

let them mingle for an hr tonight. they got pecked a couple of times by both the older chickens so i had to go in the run and supervise. will let them mingle for 2 hrs tomorrow.
they really got pecked hard so i hope this doesnt continue for too long

[Hans Mum]

bluebells are gorgeous (not that ive got favourites) and mine is so tame she follows you like a little dog

[Glutton4...]

I've got one that got picked on by ALL the others - poor little thing. She's still the bottom of the pecking order, but just walks away now or turns her head rather than squawking and running away like she used to. Maybe it's because she's fully-feathered now, so it doesn't hurt so much! But they all sleep together, it's just daytimes that she has to keep a look-out.

It's difficult, but sometimes you have to let them get on with it, and sort themselves out. Good luck