Adding pullets

[Black horse farm]

We took in a handicap and a friend of hers (hens) now the handicap we call Thelma and her friend is Louise. Louise has already acclimated with our flock however Thelma the handicap has not. They will let her in the coop at night but during the day they don’t want her around. We’re picking up some younger hens today I was wondering if putting the younger ones in a different coop with Thelma would be a good idea. They are younger pullets were picking up and I don’t think they would try to boss her around as much but I’m not sure would that affect the new pullets ability to become part of the flock or would the two coops form one flock from free ranging all day together? If I should post this elsewhere please let me know. Pictures of Thelma attached. She was stepped on as a chick before we received her. she walks poorly and has bad balance but she’s nice and once she molts she’ll be beautiful again I just want a nice life for her unstressed so whatever I can do for her I’d like to do if that means adding another coop so be it.

 

[thecatumbrella]

Awww, Thelma's so sweet! I don't have any firsthand experience, but if it were me, I would try to integrate Thelma with the new pullets in a new area (in the hopes that it would dampen territorial skirmishes because everyone's getting traumatized with the new space at once). After that, you could try to get everyone together as a single flock, but if that's unsuccessful, you could continue to run them as two separate flocks.

My two cents. Hopefully someone that knows more can chime in.

 

[Mrs. K]

I would put Thelma in for a couple of days on her home, to regain confidence and some territorial rights. She probably won’t be nice to the pullets, but it should settle quickly.

However, this might only be a short term fix. As the pullets grow I would expect the same issue to come up again.

Mrs K

 

[CoopBoots]

I don't exactly have an answer but I've been through a similar situations with a special needs case.

This is Noodle and she's been like this since she was a baby. Didn't respond to supplements; her entire little body is a bit crooked.

We were fortunate enough to raise her with her siblings, and split her into a small coop with maybe two sisters to be -next to- the main chicken run, but not within it. The rest of her siblings got to join the main group to integrate. Essentially she was intended to be in permanent look but no touch because I thought the main flock would never accept a crippled newcomer. And she stayed that way for over a year, occasionally getting an additional friend whenever I had a bullying problem for another mild-tempered hen pop up. They always seemed to start lower in the pecking order than her and her existing group, so she never got bullied and the new hens gained confidence and health (as her flock continued to be mild mannered in general).

Eventually my other chickens decided they wanted into her run as well, and as the separation wasn't working anymore and I didn't see violence occurring I just took the fence down. I'd still separate her most of the time because I was afraid of mating injuries, but outside of maybe one scuffle with another hen she settled in so well she now runs with all of them. They had all been fence neighbors for so long everyone just meshed, although they continue to roost seperately.

If you have a friend for her, I recommend the run-within-a-run setup that includes her established friend and maybe two new pullets. Given that you free-range, maybe it isn't as likely to work (because they won't mingle outside of their preferred group as much without the adjacent fencing thing) but that larger group you've created for her may bond very well. Then it -should- be safer and easier to do two larger group integrations than your special needs girl vs. a much larger established group.

That is just what I would try to start. Thelma is adorable; kudos for taking such great care of her!