Just a quick hello.....

[Smoggy67]

and the saga goes on...

Hi Snadger, yup boro born and bred mate, however after the 5-0 whooping by WBA last week im trying to keep it quiet..lol

The ones that look like fighters are the ones getting mullered mate, its the ex batts ruling the roost..

Thanks for your input Di, interesting bout colours and size - would make sense i suppose.

I amhowever all chooked up atthe mo, and am difinitely expanding the family on thursday.. will seperate new coop down the middle and let them live side by side for a bit first this time though - will update on Friday..

Thanx all..

[Eco-Chic]

I've noticed quite a lot of dogs have antipathy to black dogs. How boring if they and we were all café au lait though

[RedThorn]

Hi and welcome to the vine.

Can I suggest that you try something a little bit different?

Take the 2 Ex-batts at the bottom of the pecking order and put them with the new girls in the new girls' run. let things settle for a couple of days to a week to allow them to form the main flock. Once this is accomplished, put the remaining 2 ex-batts in with the new girls. This should allow the new girls to get their confidence with the lower of the girls in the pecking order and also disturb the pecking order of the ex-batts. The top 2 hens from the ex-batts will then be introduced into a flock of 5 and should feel rather outnumbered!

The idea is to introduce the old girls into the new girls territory, so the new girls need to be properly settled and comfortable in their area

Fingers crossed for you and although your's is a rather extreme case, from what I can see and gather, these cases are not that commom

[Snadger]

Hi Snadger, yup boro born and bred mate, however after the 5-0 whooping by WBA last week im trying to keep it quiet..lol

The ones that look like fighters are the ones getting mullered mate, its the ex batts ruling the roost..

Thanks for your input Di, interesting bout colours and size - would make sense i suppose.

I amhowever all chooked up atthe mo, and am difinitely expanding the family on thursday.. will seperate new coop down the middle and let them live side by side for a bit first this time though - will update on Friday..

Thanx all..

Ahh.......thats what happens when you speed read and make assumptions!

Not that it matters now that you are getting rid, but I always integrate chooks by building a run within a run and allowing them to be next to each other for good while. Aftter about 3 weeks I let them mix and (touch wood) up til now they have only had a bit of minor bickering!

Hope your next chooks settle better!

[Hilary B]

Hi and welcome to the vine.

Can I suggest that you try something a little bit different?

Take the 2 Ex-batts at the bottom of the pecking order and put them with the new girls in the new girls' run. let things settle for a couple of days to a week to allow them to form the main flock. Once this is accomplished, put the remaining 2 ex-batts in with the new girls. This should allow the new girls to get their confidence with the lower of the girls in the pecking order and also disturb the pecking order of the ex-batts. The top 2 hens from the ex-batts will then be introduced into a flock of 5 and should feel rather outnumbered!

The idea is to introduce the old girls into the new girls territory, so the new girls need to be properly settled and comfortable in their area

Fingers crossed for you and although your's is a rather extreme case, from what I can see and gather, these cases are not that commom

I thought it might be worth trying that approach (main point being that you introduce so the bossier ones are minority at each stage). Sooner or later you will want them all together. This method is well worth a try!

[its hilly]

Thats how I joined the site too Smoggy...lurking
I did something similar to HB and RT. Built a pen inside the loosebox that my biggest bunch sleep in and stuffed the new ones in there. After three days of swearing at each other through the wire I let the original bunch out, distracted them with some corn and quickly let the newbies out too. There have been a few chases, but only minor
But... mine do gang up by colour Although all the rugby gang who were hatched together do stick together mostly.
Oh yeah, my original ex-bats were swines for attacking new additions, even the cockeral got hammered, and he was twice their weight.

[Smoggy67]

3 Less chickens...

Well ive taken them to market, so hopefully they will find a happier home with someone and avoid the pot

On a brighter note, theres lots of nice chooks in sale today - got my eye on a quad of Orpingtons, as well as a load of others - so definitely adding to brood today... Market starts selling at 10am, so just grabbing a quick brew before the excitement.

Redthorn and the rest, thanks for advice I will try that out today when introducing new additions...
I did read somewhere that another way is to sneak them in quietly at night, the theory being they will just be taken as granted that they were already 5there?

Anyhows, nothing can be as upsetting as last lot...

[Snadger]

Cant be bothered to read back through the thread but has anyone mentioned the vinegar trick?.........haven't tried it myself but supposedly spraying new chooks with vinegar is supposed to disguise there scent and allow others to accept them easier?

[Smoggy67]

Not heard that one Snadger. will give it a go - if it fails at least the eggs will be pickled when they arrive..lol

[MaureenHall]

Apparently the vinegar trick does work. Sneak the newbies into the coop when the others are settled for the night, then spray all the birds (new and old) with a weak vinegar solution. The birds all smell the same then

[Smoggy67]

Cheers Maureen, will defo give it ago and let you both know the results...
This site is top drawer for helpful users - an absolute god send..

[Bramble-Poultry]

I have to say when it comes to adding new birds we like the chuck it and chance it method - stick them in the coop at night and see where it goes - so far only failed once!!

Smoggy - all of the birds that come in here go into quarentine first, and as you are buying birds from a market I suggest you do likewise - markets are where people go to get rid of unwanted birds! They are usually not parastie free. All birds coming in here get the full worming treatment and also get frontlined for mites, lice and scaley. As well as being monitored for their treatment week to see if there are any other problems, most problems raise their head within that week so you know that you are not intorducing parasites and infection to your existing girls.

We have had birds come in with a bad illness mycolasma - that would have wiped out all of my birds in a couple of weeks if I had not quarenteened.

[Smoggy67]

Cheers Bramble..

Yeah thanks for that Bramble, will have them sepereate for a week in run alongside original... will worm and deparasite as you mentioned..

However when I say market, its more of a local livestock auction really..
A lot of the users are farmers etc, animals are well treated and regular checks by rspca take place.. All stock is there to be examined before buying, so will be doing thorough checks before bidding..

Thanks again though, you never can be too careful..

[Bramble-Poultry]

Yes I know the place Smoggy - trust me we go to two a week and several others aswell when they come up, there really is some crap goes through these places but as long as you check them over beforehand then you should be fine. Most breeders only use auctions to get rid of what they can't sell or don't want to keep - we should know!!!

[Suechooks]

Apparently the vinegar trick does work. Sneak the newbies into the coop when the others are settled for the night, then spray all the birds (new and old) with a weak vinegar solution. The birds all smell the same then

I used anti-peck spray last time I mixed some of my girls and that worked too.