Getting to Know You

We held our "Hens & Chicks Meet & Greet" over the weekend and I think we've found a way to ease the drama, trauma and pain of small flock integration. 

And what a relief that is, given the trauma endured last August when we integrated two new hens into our flock. It was so bad, we ended up sending two from the original flock (the bad-girl bullies, Henny and Penny) to live with a much bigger flock "on the farm" (can you say chicken-stew?). 

Helen and Madge, our two remaining hens, are fairly low key. Helen is queen of the roost, but she and Madge get along. The chicks are 10 weeks old and are almost as big as the hens (in body size only - the hens outweigh the chicks by several pounds).  


Are you my Mother?



Getting everyone together in a neutral setting was the key to the Meet and Greet's success.  We used a 25' length of plastic garden fencing to create a "playpen" on the lawn. In went the chicks, who were delighted to be out of the coop, although clueless as to what to do. 

Since Helen was busy sitting on the nest, I scooped up Madge and tossed her in the pen. And waited... 



Testing the pecking order.

Ah, youth.  A time to spread your wings. To flap off in the face of authority. To find out just where you stand in the pecking order. A time to discover you're not at the top of the order. 
It didn't take Madge long to put Marigold in her place and let everyone else know that when Helen is away, Madge rules. With nothing more than a glaring look in their direction, the chicks quickly learned that blonde means business. 


Helen meets the chicks



Enter Helen, fresh off the nest, confident in her role as ruler of the roost. Holding my breath, I dropped her in.... I have to admit, I was expecting something more from Helen.  Not that I was disappointed, but she really didn't seem a bit interested in the chicks. In fact she was content to eat grass and peck around; that was until Ms. Marigold decided to test the pecking order again.  Wowee - what a dust-up!  In a quick as lightening flash, Helen delivered a sharp peck to the back of her head and that was enough to put everyone in their places.   



Helen dominating. Note the two chicks on the right - fleeing.



The chicks quickly learned to respect the elders and the elders, beyond a couple more glaring looks or threatening stances, basically ignored the chicks.  

We did a second play date on Sunday with similar results...no drama, trauma or pain.  We'll have a few more of these Meet & Greets over the next few weeks. Call me old-fashioned, but I think it's good to get to know one another before moving in together!

Birds of a feather

New Chicks on the Block



Madge and Helen check out the new neighbors.

Our new girls have settled nicely into their brand new, one bedroom, starter home. It's pretty exciting to move into a new house and get to know the new neighbors -- especially when the old biddies next door are the "mother hen" type...so to speak. 
After much discussion on the type of pen we were going to build, Hal and I settled on a pre-made "chick-n-pen" from the farm store. It fits perfectly on the mini coop and provides enough space for the chicks to roam around.  A leftover piece of fiberboard (which already matched the paint) was added to keep the rain at bay.  

These are temporary digs for our chicks, who are now 7 weeks old.  My goal is to have a combined flock living under one coop/roof by week 16 (mid-July).  My integration strategy includes a couple of "meet and greets" inside the confines of a large, plastic-fenced pen.  All that tasty, green grass will surely provide a distraction for the big girls...at least for a few minutes. 

Given our past experience with flock integration, I'm hoping these backyard play dates make the transition easier for everyone -- especially those of us without wings and beaks.   

The Coup de Coop

Let me just say up front, flock integration is not for the light hearted.  Anyone watch the Bad Girls Club on the Oxygen channel?  Yeah, completely trashy, bad-girl drama (makes treadmill time at the gym fly by!).   Yup, that's what we have going on at the Second Street Chicken Ranch -- just substitute "chixs" for girls.

The two Blondie's arrived yesterday afternoon and my plan was to slip them into the coop after dark, once my girls had retired for the evening.  Well, it had been a long day and I was tired, so after a little meet and greet between cage wires, I decided to do a more formal introduction.

I carefully placed the larger Buff Orpington on the roost outside...she stayed put and looked around curiously. So far so good.  The second Blondie, the smaller of the two, was a bit more excited and she flapped her way down into the pen.  Talk about being blindsided; in a flash Henny the Dominatrix, pulled a beak full of feathers from the little Orpie. Ouch! Next she did her best wrestling move off the ropes to flattened the new girl and pin her down.  Yikes!  Big Blondie stood stock still on the roost - can you blame her?

Helen decided to tag team with Henny, and in a dust up, Big Blondie got tossed off the roost. She too lost a clump of feathers immediately.  The rest of the flock was in a complete panic trying to stay clear of the mayhem. Oy! 

I tossed in some lettuce and thankfully things settled down for a few moments. It didn't last and at one point the new girls were cornered; Helen on one side and Henny on the other.  It was brutal.  I did my best not to intervene but I finally grabbed the new girls an pitched them into the coop.  Much to my dismay,  they jumped back down and into the "ring."  I really don't see how anyone could witness a cockfight; hen pecking is brutal enough.

Well after a few more rounds of getting the s%#@ kicked out of her, the little Orpington got smart and retreated to the coop.  "What the hell," is what I could imagine big O saying...move over sister, I'm right behind you!  They stood in the doorway together, blocking the entrance.  As I went in the house, I turned to see Henny midway up the ladder.  This should be good...but the Blondes held their ground and Henny backed off. 

This morning I half expected to find two pecked to death Orpingtons in the coop.  What I did find were two blondes still in the doorway.  My girls had been shut out and shut down. Shut up!

Tonight the Blondes (who will have names soon) were still holding the fort - a coup of the coop, if you will.  Hey, they got it made - the food is in the coop along with water and cozy nest boxes. Maybe blondes aren't so dumb!  And, even under such unwelcoming circumstances, they left me a beautiful cream colored egg.

My girls, on the other hand, are grumpy and probably hungry (I set out another waterer).  They need to get it together.

It's dark now and my plan was to go out and put one or two of my "good" girls on the roost in the coop. But to my surprise,  Henny was already on the roost inside the coop, along with Flame.  I put Harriett on the roost inside and left Helen and Penny on the outside roost.  The Orpingtons were still roosted in the doorway.  This might work out after all...