Introducing a New Chicken

We have all heard of the phrase “the pecking order”. Chickens establish a hierarchial order in their flock. This is thought to have evolved over many thousands of years in the jungle fowl of South East Asia. The pecking order allowed the flock to eat in turn and peacefully when food was available. If they were fighting at these times, they would be wasting their opportunity to eat and attracting attention to themselves from predators.

The pecking order is still well and truly with the hens of today and hens can be incredibly cruel to newcomers. If you are mixing hens that aren’t used to one another, you should make sure you are around to keep an eye open for trouble. The following points may help:

  • Place newcomers behind a fence or in a small run for a week so that they can get used to their new surroundings and get used to one another.
  • Introduce a new hen at night to the coop when it is dark. Place her amongst the other hens. They will not fight in the dark and it will give the others a chance to get used to the new smell.
  • If pecking takes place, leave them to get on with it as much as you can. They have to establish the new pecking order but…
  • If blood is drawn at any point, remove the hen and try again when the injury has healed. Chickens are attracted to red and will peck blood very quickly.
  • You may want to try removing the hen that is fighting with the newcomer to the flock for a little while until the new hen has settled into the flock, then put the trouble maker back in.

If you are still having difficulty with the hens getting along, you can try an Anti-peck spray and if you have real problems, ‘bumpa bits‘ can be fitted to the beak for a while. These stop the end of the beak closing completely so prevent her from causing damage to other hens but she is still able to eat and drink normally.

Related pages:

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158 Comments

  1. hi, i rescued a chicken a few days ago that was not looked after properly,she came with a cage designed for guinea pigs but i am waiting delivery of a large 5 bird coop and 6 ft x 3 ft run for her, but she is loose in the garden while im at home, she was 1 of 4 hens but the other 3 died a month ago in the cold snowy weather we had, but the owner then asked me if i wanted the last one as she didnt have time for them anymore. but what i was wondering was should i get another to keep her company or not, she is about 5 months old and not yet laying, maybe due to age or being underweight i am not sure. also i have never kept chickens before, i think she is a hybrid. any help would be great, thank you

    • Yes, get her back in shape for a few weeks and then find her a couple of pals. Chickens are flock animals and it is unkind to keep her on her own.

  2. thank you for your help. i will wait until she is settled in her new coop which arrived yesturday and has put some weight on then get her a friend or 2. thanks again

  3. Hiya

    One of our hens has fallen very poorly with a bad infection and is currently at the animal hospital being monitored by the vet and injected regularly with antibiotics. I am staying optimistic that she will be well enough to come home as she is improving and am wondering about reintroducing her to the coop. We picked up our 3 hens in February and all are ex-commercial hens so they know each other but Dot (the poorly one) will have been away from the coop for 48 hours when (if) she does return.

    In your experience is it ok to just pop her back in providing she is well enough?

    • There will probably be distruption to the pecking order – make sure she is completely well first, then try the re-introduction. You can make it easier on them by putting her in a separate area near them first so they can see / smell one another first.

  4. HELLO I GOT 13 NEW CHICKS ABOUT A MONTH AGO & HAVE BEEN KEEPING THEM IN A PEN OF THIER OWN AWAY FROM MY OLDER HENS, IT HAS BEEN QUITE AWHILE SINCE I’VE INTRODUCED NEW CHICKS TO A FLOCK & I CAN’T REMEMBER AT WHAT AGE IT IS SAFE TO DO THAT. I DON’T WANT MY BIG HENS TO PICK ON THE LITTLE ONES ? THEY HAVE THIER FEATHERS NOW. I,COULD TRY TO PUT THEM IN A SEPARATE AREA IN THE COUP BUT I WOULD LIKE TO AVOID THAT WORK IF POSSIBLE THANKS ERIC

  5. I just got five hens a week ago that are ready to lay and one of them has diarrhoea should i be worred? They have’nt layed any eggs yet but how long do you think it will be till they do?

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