Young Miss Cotton is a full-figured white Cochin seeking new friends and adventure, but sadly meeting with little luck in the friends department. The other boys and girls like to pick on her and chase her.
This is day 3 of Cotton's life at Boggy Hollow, and thus far she has only ventured out of her hidey-hole in a blackberry bramble a handful of times, only to be chased and snipped at by the Alpha hens (aka the big girls) and the roosters. Poor girl. She outweighs them all and could kick their sassy butts if only she had the nerve. In the mean time, she's hiding out and getting bread and pellets hand delivered to her twice a day and somehow managing to sneak into the nest box and lay us some pretty pinkish/brownish eggs.
If anyone has any thoughts on how to help integrate Cotton into the group, I'd be most open to hearing them. We want our girl to feel safe and at home, and so far, I'm afraid that she feels neither. :(
İts hard with chickens, they dont like any change. Usually they will accept another one but it takes time or sometimes they dont and then you have a group and a loner or a couple of groups. İts best if you get all your chickens together rather than one by one. Chickens are social animals and that is why they make great pets so if you have a loner or two it can affect thier egg production. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteCotton's such a cutie! I hope that the big girls take to her soon :)
ReplyDeleteIt can take awhile, but new birds can successfully be integrated into the flock. Part of your problem is that she's a Cochin, which are of course very sweet and gentle birds- and so isn't so feisty as to stand up to your other girls.
ReplyDeleteIf she's not getting beat up physically, you probably just need time. If, how ever, your other hens are being too aggressive, you should separate her from the main flock, but some where where the other girls can still see her- some people put a fence within a fence for introducing new birds. After awhile, try introducing her again. It might take a little bit and a few tries before they accept her.
As with the above poster- chickens are both social and territorial critters. Think about introducing two dogs to each other, or two cats. Would you do it in the first animal's territory, and just expect them to get along without any problems from the very start?