New introductions to the current flock

Acquiring new stock is always an exciting time but, as Paul Donovan investigates, introducing them to an established flock can have its difficulties

- Paul Donovan

Increasing the numbers of a flock can have many drawbacks. As we all know, a flock which has been kept together for some time, will have an established pecking order, where each knows its position. At the top of this, is what you could call the matriarch. Introducing a new bird into this established system, can cause all manner of upsets. But if you are adamant about introducing new birds, there are somethings you can do to try and alleviate stress, not only to the bird being introduced, but also to the established flock.

It is often assumed that the bird(s) being introduced are the ones which will suffer stress/bullying. But this is not always the case, because if that individual, or those individuals being introduced have a strong personality, they can cause stress and bullying to the established hens. So when introducing birds, observe both established and new individuals.

Introducing birds in a free-range environment is a different story, and seldom exhibits the same degree of stress, because of the space available to them allowing them to get away from one another. Unfortunately we are not all blessed with acres of ground to allow our birds to forage through, and most of us keep our birds in varying sized coops. Introducing individuals to others in a relatively confined space, is where the difficulty arises. If you find yourself in such a predicament, what can you do to lessen the chances of aggressive behaviour being dished out?

ALWAYS QUARANTINE