[northfifeduckling]

until a new hen adapts to her new surrounding and the others will accept her? We've been given a lovely and tame young hen in exchange for a duck. As expected, the other hens did not take too well to having another one around. She follows me a lot and is separate from the other during the day. I am a bit concerned as she does seem unhappy but not unwell. It's been 2 weeks already and there's no change in sight...

[HesterF]

Could you put her in a separate run with just one other to begin with? Always best to isolate them to begin with anyway for disease reasons but also gets the others used to her being there without needing to interact too closely. At this time of year, I just think it's nice for them to have one other for warmth at night - and it's new territory for both so they go in on equal terms.

[northfifeduckling]

1 house for all and free range. I might be able to take out the worst offender for a couple of days into the hospital / prison wing (eglu with run) . I don't want to take her there as she's not the one that needs to be punished....

[HesterF]

She might not see it as being 'punished'. Just would give her a chance to bond with one other more easily. Just a suggestion - you know them best.

[chrismahon]

She will never fit in properly NFD. Chickens should be introduced to groups in pairs. So HesterF's suggestion is a good one. Pick a suitable hen (lowest in the pecking order if you can tell) and put them both together for several weeks. When they are re-introduced there will be some fighting as the pecking order is re-established but at least they will be buddies.

[hughesy]

We recently combined two groups of 12 and 8 and it took quite a few weeks for them to integrate fully. Despite moving both groups to a different house they still went their separate ways as soon as they were let out in the morning. All happy together now though.