Selfsufficientish.com

Hello there ,

been reading the interesting subject of introducing new hens .
Last week we finally had a visit of a stout , alas we lost one hen.So if something bad happens try and turn it into something
good.

I had a block cabin of 2 x 3 meters laying under a plastic sheet , until now did not have time to erect it.
But because the old hen house was not good enough I had to erect a new and better one.
Further for the compensation of the loss of one hen ,first I thought there were 2 missing ,I purchased 3 new ones.'

So now our in total of 7 hens , 4 oldies , 3 newbies have the most luxury house of north Germany .I made 4 laying boxes in the side of the house ,and a perch of 2 meters long ,firm floor ,plenty of room .No predators will get them now !

But then the problem arised of the old batch now only 4 started pecking to elect a new king of the hill , seeing that the old one
had met the stout .And then I introduced 3 new ones ,to make things worse ?
I was watching them again tonight , at 1940 hrs they went on the perch , and the 4 oldies were doing their damn best
to peck and harass the newbies .What a sad sight to see , the 7 of them have the best life a hen can imagine,but I suppose
that's nature .(Just like civil servants and governments treat people.)

Now my question is , if I would put a cockerel in with them , until now they've never seen one ,exept me,
would this calm them down ? Would the cockerel restore order , or would the hens still keep going for one another ?

Anybody got an answer ?

And then this .
In the Netherlands the animal campaigners have got a radio ad going about that the chicken you buy in the supermarket.
The chicken form the supermarket has never had as much space in it's entire life as in your oven .????????????

They could have a point about the way the industrialized hens ae treated , but my batch of hens , even when they roam in the
garden , or take a dust bath and destroy one of my flower beds ,which cost me a hell of an effort to eliminate the nettles,
they all stick toghether ,leaning against each other , also when they're on their perch , so do they really need a square meter
for each bird .
It's seems that they dont want all the space the animal campaigners say they do .

regards ,

Paul

I have found roosters to be great at sorting squabbles between our chooks. One of my funniest recent memories is of our introducing a cockerell to a pen of hens, and how they crowded around him like he was a rockstar! All squabbles ceased almost immediately. Might depend on the rooster too ? Ours have all been good strong manly types.

And for your second question, some of our chooks chose to spend the winter in their shed - about 8 hens to a shed about 1.5x3m. Now it's Spring, they are all out and about... I think the worst thing about the cages is the wire sloping floors, and lack of privacy for the hens laying, also they can't spread or flap their wings or dust bathe. Once you've had your own hens, you just can't go back!

our cockerel sorts out fights.. he rushes in and clucks away and the fighting hens stop fighting and look ashamed. I'm convinced he is saying 'calm down, calm down'...

but a new cockerel could be picked on.. and it would unsettle your flock further. I woudl give them time to sort it al out. might take a few weeks, but they will.