Achieving Chicken Integration

Jay and Sylvia

In November, we had our first chicken funeral.  Jay's favorite, our most docile and sweet girl, Sylvia, passed away somewhat unexpectedly. She had had a whistling sort of breathing sound for months, and several of the resources we consulted indicated that if she was still eating (check), not losing weight (check), still laying (check) and still acting normal (check) that she was probably fine and just had a scarred airway.  Sadly, they were wrong, and I went out to let the girls have some free-range time one afternoon and she was laying on the floor of the coop.  We had a funeral for her when Jay came home from work.  It was a hard thing.  I felt terribly guilty for her passing because I kept thinking we needed to do more for her, but hadn't acted on my instinct.  Lesson Learned: Find a good old-fashioned country veterinarian who would see poultry as part of the normal practice, so next time one of the girls seems out of sorts we have a place to take her. (check)

Francine

That same week, our friend called to tell us that he had a hen for us.  Months earlier, he had hatched a mixed nest of Cochin and Marans eggs.  Cochins are large and somewhat docile and have feathery feet.  Marans are a breed that lay extremely dark colored eggs and also have feathery feet.  The babies grew up, and our friend had an 'extra' Marans pullet (teenage girl chicken) that he wanted to share with us.  We were really excited about having a Marans, because of the unique color of their eggs, and because they are also very pretty chickens.

We were a bit concerned that we didn't know how to introduce new chickens to our small group (made smaller by Sylvia's passing) in a way that would keep all the girls safe both from one another as well as any germs, bacteria or diseases that might be transmitted between the birds.  To compound the concern, the new girlie was totally flea-infested. I thought she had brown feathers around her eyes.... but it was just a dense mat of fleas that were incredibly 'sticky' and stubborn.  She was crawling with them.  I felt so horrible for her.  It became even more important to isolate her, until we could get the flea situation under control.

Chicken Tractor

We went to a local farm supply and bought a portable chicken tractor to keep our Newbie in.  It's about 4' x 8', with a little sleeping loft. At this point we were still deciding on a name.  I wanted to have something French, since Marans are a French breed. She was called "Newbette" until we settled on a name (Francine). She was used to living with a large flock of birds, and now she was alone in a strange place, with airplane noises and traffic sounds.  Jay and I dusted the yard, the chicken, her new coop with Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth.  It's fossilized algae, that cuts and slices up the insides of the fleas and causes them to dehydrate and die.  It's safe to use on your yard and around your plants. You do need to wear a mask so you don't breathe in the dust because it can damage our lungs if inhaled in large quantities.

During this time, we let Phyllis and Pearl out of their coop and they made a bee-line over to the new tractor to check out their guest.  Everyone seemed to be adjusting well, and when we let Francine out, she went straight to the big coop and the ladies clucked and talked through the fencing.  After a few days, we decided to let everyone out together.  We had sat with her wrapped in a towel, pulling fleas off her with a tweezer a few times, and felt that we had enough of them under control to let them out together.

At first, it went well.  Phyllis and Pearl were nice enough, but they were occasionally bossy and a bit mean to her.  She would fly away a bit, and then come back towards them.  When evening came, we'd put her back in her tractor, and she became used to putting herself back at nightfall.  Finally we decided that it was time to try to let her integrate into the big coop.  That led to one of the most heartbreaking sights we'd ever witnessed in Chicken Land.  Apparently Phyllis and Pearl were okay with playing with Francine's toys, but did not want her to share their bedroom with them.  She would follow them gamely up the ladder to their henhouse, only to have them flip out on her and scare her away.  It was getting dark, and she got a bit panicked. So we had to rescue her and put her back into her tractor.

Francine's Egg

We decided to build a second henhouse (Francine's Apartment) in the big coop. In the meantime, we would take her out of her tractor at night, and put her in the henhouse after everyone was asleep. The idea was that waking up together would make Phyllis and Pearl think that Francine belonged with them at bedtime. No dice.  So Jay built her a little room like theirs, complete with her own ladder. The next sad night Phyllis and Pearl again objected loudly to her following them to bed... and she trudged up and down the ladder a few times, trying over and over to gain access to their roost until it got too dark for her to see.  We had to place her in her own coop, so she could settle down.

Then we had a cold snap, and all of a sudden there was an attitude shift. Pearl and Phyllis decided that three chickens were warmer than two, and stopped chasing Francine off when she tried to go to bed with them.

Eggs

Everything has been fine ever since.  They all sleep together, dust bathe together and hang out together. They all take turns laying eggs in both hen house nest boxes.  Francine wasn't as used to being handled as Phyllis and Pearl and she is still really skittish, but we're working on it.  She will now eat sunflower seeds out of Jay's hand, and is getting more brave about coming out of the coop in the afternoon even if I'm standing in the doorway.  She and Pearl squawk incessantly when Phyllis is laying her egg, and right now they are all looking for cool stuff to eat in the garden area Jay just opened up for them.  If Phyllis and Pearl wander off and she doesn't notice at first, she will squawk and fuss until Phyllis comes and finds her and leads her over to wherever they had been. It's really nice to see them become a little family.