Introducing New Chickens to Your Existing Flock Part 2

In my last post I covered how to introduce chicks to your existing flock. I think this is by far the best method for expanding your flock.

But let's say you are a backyard chicken enthusiast and you happen to stumble into a free chicken giveaway from a trusted friend. Can you adopt the giveaways? Should you adopt the giveaways???

My practice, which is shared by many large flock owners, is "All in, all out" meaning all hens stay together and I treat them as one unit. I usually do not add more to an existing flock. When it's time to get new birds, I cull the existing flock, clean and disinfect the coop and move the new girls in. All in, all out.

But, sometimes it doesn't work that way. Sometimes you may have to introduce new hens to an existing flock. If this happens to be you, follow these steps to introduce the new birds safely without too much anxiety. The following steps apply to adult chickens only. Do not blend adult and juvenile chickens.

1. Before bringing the new chickens onto your property, visually inspect the birds to make sure they are healthy and fit.

2. Even if they look fine, isolate the new birds. Set up a temporary pen away from your current chickens. Do not put new chickens next to existing flock until they have been given a clean bill of health by an avian vet. Sometimes chickens can be carriers of disease and show no outward sign.

3. Chore your old birds before your newly acquired birds if wearing the same clothing and boots. Do not chore the new birds before the old birds without changing clothes and shoes. This helps to prevent spread of disease.

4. Once you are sure the chickens are healthy, set up their temporary pen next to the pen of your existing flock. Do not allow the chickens to mingle yet. Let them get used to each other for a week or so by living next door.

5. After the hens seem to be friendly toward each other (one-two weeks), you may put them together. Do this after dark when the chickens are on the roost.

6. Re-establishing the pecking order. Keep a close eye on the hens during the next few weeks. Chickens have a pecking order. This is a hierarchical system innate to the chicken. You cannot prevent the pec
king that occurs within the pecking order, but you can influence it somewhat.

• Provide extra areas and roosts for chickens to retreat from bossy hens. 
• Use Blue Kote or other pecking deterrents. 

Here's what I used to do. If one or more chickens is suffering from too much pecking, take out the most dominant BOSSY hen, not the poor beat up hen. Put said BOSSY hen in temporary isolation crate out of sight of the rest of the flock. Treat beat up hen(s) with Blue Kote. Leave BOSSY hen in isolation for a week, or until an obvious new bossy hen emerges. Re-introduce BOSSY hen. She has now lost her place as the dominant hen. The whole pecking order of the flock must be re-established. Many times, BOSSY hen will find herself a few rungs lower than when she left. Continue to watch hens and repeat BOSSY hen removal if needed.

Introducing New Chickens to Your Existing Flock Part 1

Japanese Bantam hen with chicks

So, you want to expand your flock with minimal work and hassle. You don't really have time for brooding new chicks and you want your existing flock of chickens to accept your new chicks without bloodshed. Well, here's the best way I know to accomplish this goal. Let one of your existing hens do the work for you. Let a broody hen care for and raise your chicks so you don't have to. 

Cruise through the area hatcheries and find chicks that you can order on short notice. Above is what Meyer Hatchery has available on short notice for this week. You will have to be flexible, since you will have to wait for your hen to go broody before you order your chicks. This late ordering will limit your choices. Be open and flexible to accept other breeds or a "hatchery assortment".

I suggest setting up a special cozy brooding box/nest for your hen prior to anybody going broody. Put it in a location somewhat away from the rest of the flock, like off in an unused corner. Place a few golf balls in there to encourage sitting and hopefully a hen will choose it as a safe place to raise her "brood". 

Broody Buff Orpington

Next step. Wait. Yes, wait for one of your hens to go broody. This will happen anytime from April 1 to July 1, and many times later than that.

Broody Easter Egger

If you have never seen a broody hen, it will be obvious when it happens in your flock.  One of your hens will start sitting in the nesting box all the time. When you approach her, she will start to snarl and growl and may peck at you, letting out what seems to be her inner dinosaur. You will swear this chicken is PMSing.... She'll be all puffed up and very clucky. She will refuse to leave the nest. If she does leave, (or you pull her out) her puffed up, clucky self runs back to the nest as quick as she can, screaming at you all the way. Once she has chosen a nesting site, she will not want to move it.

Old English Game bantam 

Some chickens are bred not to go broody. These include the modern hybrid layers like Golden Comets or any Black Sex-links and Leghorns. Most chickens bred for good egg production are not good mothers. The hens most inclined to go broody are Buff Orpingtons, Bantams of any sort, English breeds and Easter eggers.

Silver Seabright hen

Once one of your hens starts to exhibit these signs, you only have 20 days to get your chicks.  Call up your hatchery of choice and order chicks for 2-3 weeks from the first day your hen acted broody. You see, a chick takes 21 days from the beginning of incubation to hatch. Typically it will take 24 hours for all chicks to hatch. The hen has a inner clock that recognizes this three week time frame, and may not take chicks earlier or much later than 21 days.

Ok, your broody hen has been sitting on golf balls for 21 days. You have picked up your chicks from the hatchery and cuddled with them for a few hours. Late that evening, under the cover of darkness, take the fluffy balls of joy and gently place them them under your broody hen. You can fit up to 8 chicks under one hen.

Now, sit back and watch your momma hen do all the work. You will have to put out chick feeders and waterers that are easy reach for the babies She will keep the chicks warm, show them how to eat, how to drink, how to scratch in the dirt and hunt for worms and bugs. The broody hen will protect her chicks from other flock members and the chicks will benefit from her ranking in the flock's pecking order. This is by far the best method for expanding your flock naturally with a minimum amount of effort on your behalf.

Look for Part Two of expanding your flock with adult hens later this week.

Roosting Above the Mud

Lots of rain today and severe weather predicted all week. Mud is everywhere. What's a little hen to do? You know how she doesn't like to step in the mud. She is a princess afterall. She's laying lots of eggs for you now, so show her a little favor in return. Give her an outside roost. Hens like to get up on the highest perch available, anytime. My bantams would somehow wind up 12' high in the rafters of their grainery-coverted-to-a-chicken coop.

Most hens would rather be outside, enjoying the sun, the breeze and the fresh air. They also like to nap in the afternoon.  A roost of some sort which is up off the ground and allows them to stay outside would be ideal for your girls. Be careful not to put the perches too high. Any distance above ground level works. Although they are yard birds, they are still birds and need to perch.

Map Your Urban Flock!

There are more of us than you think. This site has a Google map of all the urban flocks across the world.  Let's get Columbus, Ohio on the map.

Map Your Flock on Google

9 Uses For All Those Extra Eggs!

Those of you with laying hens are probably seeing the springtime explosion of eggs. Well, it is Spring, the welcoming of the new, the days are longer, the nights are shorter, and the girls are eager to be out and about, foraging for worms and grassy shoots.

Let's talk about eggs. You probably have more than you can eat right about now. So what to do with all of them? Each egg is a small gift, so it's important to treat them that way. Here are a few ways I use excess eggs.

1. Feed them back to the hens or to new chicks. Yes, you can do this, but please do not feed them raw eggs, as that can lead to egg eating. Hard boil them, then smash the eggs with a potato masher really good, shell and all, until they resemble hard scrambled eggs. Then feed the eggs as a noontime treat or instead of regular chicken feed for one meal, here and there.

2. Give them to neighbors. You can easily develop and maintain good relations with your neighbors by giving them a 1/2 doz or so here and there.

3. Give to dogs. Develop a nice shiny coat and give a protein boost to your family dog by cracking an egg over Rover's dinner kibble. Yummy! But be careful! I recommend cooking the eggs first then give Rover the treat. Feeding raw eggs can lead to the farmer's bane, the egg sucking dog. Also, you can feed those frozen eggs to Rover.

4. Easter eggs. Nuff said

5. Egg crafters. Find folks, like me, who do egg crafts. Crafters will pay more per egg, but they must be blemish free.

6. Freeze the eggs for later. Crack the eggs into small freezer containers. You can leave them whole or separate yolks from whites before freezing them in small quantities. In the middle of winter you can have eggs for baking and eating.

7. Deviled eggs go over great at potluck dinners!

8. French toast cassarole is the bomb for Sunday brunch.
Maple Cream Cheese French Toast Casserole

9. Use eggs for face masks and in beauty treatments
5 Facial Masks with Eggs

Springtime in Ohio, what a muddy mess!

Having chickens means you probably have bare dirt in your run or yard where the chickens have eaten everything that was once green. Chickens definitely take it down to bare dirt! Come Spring, it turns into a nasty muddy mess. This is the wettest time of year and it plays havoc with backyard poultry keepers.

 Chickens don't like the mud. They would prefer not to step on soft muddy ground. They would prefer not to drag those muddy feet into the nesting boxes and dirty up the pretty eggs. but I tell you one thing, they prefer to drink out of puddles! You may have fresh water available to the hens 24/7 but those puddles are irresistible.

If you have a flooded coop or pen, you must act quickly to remove the soiled bedding, mud and puddles.

1. Distract the chickens from the puddles and mud with an enticing treat.
2. Lock them away from the muddy mess while you are cleaning.
3. Take out all the wet bedding. Yes, all of it. Don't cheat on this one. Rake off the top layer of wet bedding and look for wet bedding underneath.
4. Remove wet bedding to compost pile or bin.
5. Allow wet area to dry as long as possible.
6. Sprinkle Sweet PDZ (indoors only) or other barn lime to assist with odor control and drying time.
7. Once dry, add bedding. Stir new bedding into existing bedding and then add chickens.

A variety of perches help keep hens clean and dry.

If the chicken run outside is soaking wet, keep chickens off of it as long as possible, especially if there are puddles. This is one reason why it's a great idea to put roosts up high off the ground in the chicken run or have other areas for the chickens to perch above the ground.

If you put bedding down to absorb the wet outside, you will need to remove it asap before the chickens are permitted to run on the area. I suggest using sand in the run to prevent puddles.

Spring Cleaning

I've been in the nesting mode for a bit lately. This started when i was recently in Florida staying with my aunt. We went thru everything on her ground level of her house, cleaning, throwing out and organizing. It's amazing what a person can accumulate over the years. this prompted me to clean out my own basement and now I've moved to cleaning out my blog and reorganizing. If you have been here before, you will notice some differences. I have added pages to this site and the navigation is along the top of this page. A classes page is now a necessity, as I have several on board for this spring and summer at City Folks Farm Shop.

If you have a topic you are interested in seeing, drop me a line and I would be happy to write an article or post a hot tip!
denise.l.beno@gmail.com