Best time to introduce new stock?

[chris]

So.. I have an egg eater. If I can't cure her she'll have to go which will be a bit annoying (and not to mention upset the wife). That'll leave me with 2 hens, and we've been thinking about getting a couple more in for some time now.

If it DOES boil down to this, is it better to get a couple/few more in ASAP, or does it make a difference if I were to wait some months? (I'm aware of how I should be introducing them, just not if time would make a difference.. if the flock has been disrupted I'd like to keep their stress to a minimum if that makes sense).

TIA!

[Nicos]

Gut feeling....
If you have an egg eater then she'll be showing the newbies how yummy they are

[Suechooks]

Yes I get your drift! Once the flock dynamics are disrupted by removing your egg eater (if you do) then you may as well introduce the new birds before the new pecking order is established. Thats how I see it anyway and how I'd do it in those cicumstances. Others may differ!

[chris]

That's what I was thinking of doing, Sue thanks. Indeed Nicos - going to see how she is for a week, and if it still continues then she'll go.

[nellie-m]

An egg eater, oh dear. Did you try nest eggs (fake eggs) to break her habit? I don't want to raise high hopes but it's worth a try before sending her to the freezer. If you let a few nest eggs lie around in the coop, outside the coop, so she comes across lots of seemingly yummy eggs that just will not break however hard she pecks at them, she might learn that it's not worth the effort. (Try to remove any freshly laid egg before she can get it for a while). Does she eat eggs that are still in the nest box, too? or just the ones that happen to lie around?

And did you ever come across those nest boxes that have a hole in the floor, so the eggs fall into a closed compartment underneath where the hens can't get at them? My hens never really liked them, so I don't use them anymore but for an egg eater, that might be one last option.

In case you decide to remove her from the flock, I agree with Sue - I would add the new ones very soon afterwards.

[chris]

I haven't tried anything yet. Today we collected the eggs before anything could be eaten It could be that the eggs have been broken accidently, and then just eaten - but its happened a few times now so I'm beginning to think otherwise. We'll see how we get on with collecting them more often (I usually collect them either first thing in the morning when I let them out, or when I'm back from work.. straight into the garden, handful of Chard/Rocket/what not - they follow me, I put them in their run and collect the eggs. My wife & kids are going out late morning to get them now too.

Thanks for the advice about adding them sooner rather than later looks like its the way to go. I'm thinking now of knocking up a temporary house/run for the new ones to quarantine the new arrivals, remove the other one after I'm sure the others are alright and then introduce them then, during the night. Haven't decided to move them into the run, in their own little section, or put them straight in the coop over night, and in the morning chuck the other oldies out keeping the newbies in the run so they can see each other etc - for the first couple of days.

I'll have another read up and think. Hoping it doesn't come to it though, or if I get 3 new ones with 1 being the same as the problem hen then my wife may not notice

[polo]

Hi Chris, try hanging a curtain in front of the nestbox - it worked for my hens. Something like a bamboo cane with weed supressing fabric stuck to it cut into ribbons.

Also, I have to say that I have introduced two groups of hens now, one group could see each other for around 1 month then went into same run - it was resolved quickly but it was painful to watch and manage!!!

The ex-batts I kept in their coop for about 3 months but let them all free range together in the garden. This group was very very easy to integrate with much less stress all round AND its nots just becasue the ex batts were bottom of the pecking order becasue they aren't. Took longer but was more gentle.

If I do i again it will be using the free range method! I do realise I could have been lucky and got an easy group, and i have the spare coop which you might not have. I couldn't believe the difference.

Good luck with the egg eater.

[chris]

Thanks polo. I have enough mesh/wire/staples/wood to build a small house for them. I could go the free range route I guess (well, garden range) at least they could have the space to run away that way. I'll let you know, I like the sound of it though!