We currently have 2 hens – A Bluebell called “Sienna” and a Black Rock called “Phoenix” – both are laying machines and we get close to a dozen eggs a week from them.

Phoenix and Sienna

Sienna has always been the dominant one – and a little bit of a bully.

A week ago a friend came to me and asked if I could look after his 5 chickens for a month. He was in a desperate situation and so I really couldn’t say no.

Introducing new hens would be seen as a challenge to Sienna’s authority. And I was expecting a few pecks here and there as the ‘pecking order’ was re-established or should I say reaffirmed in the case of Sienna.

What I wasn’t expecting was just how violent it would be!

I have read much about the topic of introducing new hens to an existing flock and there are a few different schools of thought out there. Some people recommend you wait until it is dark and the existing hens have put themselves to bed.

They then introduce the new hens into the coop. You the owner would decide where in the coop they will sleep for the night and you pretty much put them down where you see fit.

Others suggest a more staggered introduction. The idea is to keep them separated but ideally within eye contact over a course of a few days to a few weeks. This gives them time to get used to each other. They should not have any physical interaction during this period.

There is also the point that keeping them apart for a longer period lessens the chance of disease being spread.

I guess you can never be certain whether or not your new birds are carrying anything, and at least if you keep them separated for a week or so, any disease or problem should make its presence known and you can deal with it before spreading it amongst your existing flock.

You should also always try and avoid introducing just one hen as this can lead to the flock taking exception and all having a go at the new arrival.

Anyway….

I arranged for the hens to be dropped off at dusk. That way everyone would be less stressed out as chickens tend to be less active and more calm when night falls.

Luckily I have a spare ark that I popped them in for the night and that was that. Sienna and Phoenix had put themselves to bed so weren’t really aware of the new arrivals.

The next morning I was up early to watch and see the action. For the most part our two just minded their own business. But later on as they approached the ark it became evident who the dominant hen was in each group.

After a few more days of rotating the 2 groups between the ark and the large enclosed run I decided to release two of the new hens into the pen with our Bluebell and Black Rock.

Sienna straight away had a go at them but it wasn’t too serious and there was no fighting back from the two new ones.

I kept the dominant one of the new group inside the ark to give both dominant hens more time to get used to each other. After a day or so the other 4 had integrated well enough, with the odd peck here and there from our dominant Bluebell.

But I still had two very aggressive hens not willing to relinquish their status in the pecking order.

After now almost 6 days together I decided it was time to settle this once and for all. I released all 5 together in the morning and for a while they were all busying themselves with filling their crops.

But eventually paths crossed and they caught sight of each other and the fight was on.

It didn’t last as long as I had thought it would and luckily there wasn’t too much damage done. A little bit of blood drawn from the comb of the newcomer but I remedied that with a mild antiseptic spray. It was shocking at first to see the bird bleeding but the next day it had healed.

That night all 5 were to sleep in the hen house together. I made sure Sienna was the last one to go to bed. I put her in the ark and waited to well after dark. When all had settle in for the night I moved Sienna from the ark back into the hen house and plonked her next to Phoenix and watched with a torch light to see what would happen.

As previously stated – after it gets dark, hens become docile, and there weren’t any problems apart from a bit of hasty movement from the hen that had taken Sienna’s favourite roosting spot.

The following morning while it was still dark I went down to check on them and they were already out and about. No doubt as soon as Sienna stirred the others thought it was probably best that they got out of her way!

Sienna has had a few more goes at all three of them during the course of the day but none of them stand up to her and they all manage to get away without any injuries. So I guess the pecking order has been successfully established!

What did I learn from this experience?

• It was a lot more violent than I was expecting – I really was quite shocked at the sight of blood on the comb of both hens.
• It took less time than I have thought. When the two hens were having a go at each through the wire of the ark I honestly thought I had a much bigger problem on my hands.
• The fight  didn’t last as long as I had thought it would and luckily there wasn’t too much damage done. A little bit of blood drawn but I remedied that with a mild antiseptic spray and by the next day it had healed.
• And finally not to bet on who you think will be the top of the pecking order. My money was on the new hen that had previously been in charge of 6 others and had the battle scars to prove it. I was expecting Sienna to quickly get put in her place. But the complete opposite happened.

Have you ever introduced new hens to an existing flock?  Comments below welcomed!

How do you know that an egg is fresh? Well there are a few things you can do to tell just how old those eggs you bought are.

1. Gently place egg in  bowl of cold water.
2. If it sinks to the bottom it is very fresh.
3. If it sinks to the bottom but floats at an angle it is more than a week old.
4. If it sinks, then stands on end it is about two weeks old.
5. If the egg floats it should be discarded.

When you start to keep chickens and you crack open your first couple of eggs you will notice that they are probably a  little different to the ones you picked up in store.

Fresh eggs have  rounded plump yolks and much thicker ‘whites’.  In fact the older the egg, the more ‘runny’ the white becomes and the yolk also gets flatter.

Download a copy of our 25 page getting started with chickens guide here

As you would expect, there are guidelines on the minimum space per bird, which according to DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) is 1 sq foot per bird. The UK Poultry club which has been around since 1877 also suggests at least 1 square foot per bird (large fowl) or 8″ square for bantams.

However, that is a MINIMUM, and what you will find from the many people already keeping hens is that the more room you can give your chickens, the healthier and happier they will be.

If you allow your hens to free range during the day and you only lock them up in their house at night then you can quite easily get away with a the smaller amount of housing space set out by DEFRA.

But while hens will perch close together at night bare in mind that keeping too many hens in a coop could result in health problems as well as a lot more cleaning!

A trick when assessing a chicken coop whether online or in a shop is to find out what the internal measurements of the sleeping/roosting area of the coop are in square feet and remember to allow at least 1 sq foot per bird.

What you should know is that some suppliers inflate the amount of hens their coops can hold. I would be wary of people selling £90 coops that can hold 8 hens. When you look closely you see that they are also taking into account the nesting box space and you find that the ‘hens’ are actually bantams!  Work out the internal space yourself and make up your own mind based on common sense and the 1sq foot rule as the minimum.

(To get the area: multiply the length and width. If the measurements are in cm, do the same to calculate the square centimetres and then visit a site like this to work out the amount of square foot space your hens will have.)

Outside area

It’s important that your hens have space to roam, however if your hens are not to be totally free-range, (sometimes it is not practical in a suburban garden), you could invest in a chicken coop with a run.

As a general rule of thumb the more space you give them the happier they will be. Cramp conditions leads to boredom, pecking and an increase likelihood of pests and diseases.

Most of our coops come with runs that can be extended to allow you to give your birds more space should you need it. If you are going to keep your chickens in a run for most of the time then as a rule of thumb you should allow around 1 square meter of run space for each bird.

If you do plan on keeping your hens permanently in an enclosed run then you should expect the grass in that area to soon wear thin and turn in to a bit of a quagmire when it rains.

Because of this some people prefer to keep their coop and run on a hard standing. This has the advantage of there being a little less mud about when it rains; it can be sprayed down and cleaned regularly with a hose or high pressure cleaner and there is also less chance of a determined fox tunnelling in under the run.

It does however create a bit of an unnatural environment for them. So if you do go down this route then you will need to give your hens a real good layer of bark to allow them to act naturally and scratch about in.

This would need to be regularly raked out and replenished. There is also the option of using rubber chippings which are more expensive initially but can be washed and disinfected and generally lasts longer.

Your hens will also need access to a dry area of soil for them to take regular dust baths.  Hens will need and want to take a regular dust bath to rid their feathers of parasites and insects.

If they don’t have access to an area of dry soil then you should provide them with some. This can be done by filling a deep cat litter tray or a large pot with soil and sand.  If allowed to free range they would typically find a secluded spot in the garden to dig their dust bath.

Free range birds have plenty to keep them occupied but hens housed permanently in a run will need things to keep them entertained. They like to have different levels of height to clamber on to and perch on, some people hang CDs in the run which give them something to peck at. You can also push leafy greens through the chicken wire for them to eat.

You could also consider using a poultry electric netting kit to provide a safe and secure area for you hens to roam but you will need to consider if you have the space and budget (£150 to £200) for one of them.

Before you begin researching which coop would best suit your needs knowing whether you intend to keep them full time in a coop and run or whether you intend to allow your hens the freedom to free range will help narrow down the search.

When we started out we allowed our hens’ full access to our garden but later decided it was a better idea to fence of a small unproductive section of our veggie patch where they go do as they please without us worrying if they were eating the sweet peas or digging up the lawn.

We still let them out in the late afternoon to roam about the rest of our garden. This way they help keep the weeds down, they get to explorer a bit and have a change of scene and our garden just about survives.

If you do decide to fence off an area of your back garden for your chicken then keep in mind that you will need to take steps to ensure foxes can’t access their run by simply climbing over or tunnelling under.

Just as we enjoy chickens and eggs as a tasty meal, so, unfortunately, do predators such as foxes.

Red mites hide away in the dark corners of the chicken coop, emerging at night to feed on the blood of your poor unsuspecting chickens.

The level of irritation from a red mite infestation can cause broody hens to abandon their nests and pluck out their own feathers. Other symptoms include weight lose and a general loss of condition and lower egg yield.

Since they feed at night, they are notoriously difficult to spot during the daytime. Birds will be restless at night and will have a severe skin irritation from the biting mites. Red Mites are almost white before they feed, blood red after a feed and a greyish black colour with partially digested blood so you will see various colours of mites.

To test for red mite you can simply wipe a white piece of kitchen towel or a white tissue along the underside of a perch in the dark. Any blood stains will indicate the presence of Red Mite!

Prevention is the easiest way to deal with mite. When you get started with keeping chickens more than likely you will have a new mite-free coop. Make sure to give this a real good dusting of red mite powder before you put your chickens in. Aim to leave a noticeable layer of the powder in the corners and cracks of the coop.

As soon as you can handle you hens comfortable dust them too with mite powder, making sure to work the powder in under their feathers.

By doing this and then repeating it every 4 to 6 weeks you greatly reduce the chances of red mite taking hold. To date we have never experienced a red mite problem because we follow this method.

If at a later stage you introduce a new bird to the flock make sure that they are very well dusted down with mite powder.

There is a whole host of products available to you. The main ingredient in these powders is D.E (Diatomaceous earth) which is a 100% natural and non toxic powder that typically provides protection for up to 6 weeks with just one application.

Lice

The same applies to biting lice, which lay their eggs at the base of chicken’s feathers. Again, dust all your chickens with powder, regardless of whether they are showing symptoms or not, and give the hen house a really good layer too.

Where there are chickens, there will most likely be foxes. Now that urban foxes are as numerous as their country cousins, they are a major consideration for the urban chicken owner. Your chicken coop must be both secure and robust enough to resist a determined attack by a fox armed with sharp teeth and claws. Despite popular belief, foxes can attack during the day as well as at night, so only let your chickens out loose in the garden if you are there with them, or you run the risk of losing one.

The best protection against a fox attack is to return your hens at night to a secure, sturdy and robust hen house. Foxes are also highly effective diggers, so they can easily tunnel under a coop wall and into the run. So it is a very wise idea to lock your hens up at night inside the actual housing area of the coop.

Another way to prevent a fox from digging under the coop is to lay a line of pavers or bricks around the outside of the run. A fox will soon get tired of digging in from a half a metre out and will probably move on to find an easier meal.

Some say that human smell around the chicken coop discourages foxes, and we have read that urinating along the perimeter of your chicken run will mark it as ‘your’ territory, and discourage foxes. Not sure what the neighbours will think, but it’s a theory…

Remember to always inspect your chicken coop for signs of scratching or teeth marks, and make any repairs quickly to prevent a small hole becoming larger.

You should also know that keeping chickens can increase the likelihood of rats, mice and other vermin. The problem isn’t so much that hens attract the vermin but rather that they are attracted by leftover chicken feed and the chance of an easy meal.

Rats are most likely to come and visit the chicken coop during the winter, when other food is scarce. Rats rarely attack chickens as such, but they will take eggs given half a chance.

Mice and small vermin are less of a problem because they are often seen as a meal by most chickens, so they tend to stay away or their numbers kept low, if you know what I mean.

Rats are opportunists who love a free meal, so the best way to discourage rats is to keep your chicken coop clean and free from surplus food. Also pay close attention to where you store your chicken feed. Simply putting it high on a shelf won’t discourage mice or rats; keep your feed in a container with a secure lid, such as a large galvanized dustbin.

If you develop a major problem with rats, your local authority should be able to help you deal with it, as rats are classed as vermin.

Your chicken coop sits in your garden 365 days a year, so it should be something you are pleased to look at, not an eyesore.

More importantly you should ask yourself will it last. There are plenty of chicken coops for sale out there for a £100 or slightly more and on the face of it they look like great value for money.

But what you’ll find is that the wood is paper thin and the supplier has cut every corner to get the lowest possible price and you could well end up wasting your time and money.

Obviously budget is a determining factor in your decision when purchasing a chicken coop. But personal experience has taught me that buying the cheapest of anything (especially something that will be outside in the elements) is more often than not false economy.

Instead by investing a little bit more I have often found less frustrations and problems, better customer service and generally a much better product.

Hens will always seek out dark, quiet and secluded places to lay their eggs. By providing suitable nesting boxes within the coop, you can provide your hens with their ideal laying environment, and a space where you know their eggs will be clean and protected – and easy to find!

Our traditionally designed wooden hen houses have the nesting boxes protruding at the side and access is via a locking nesting box lid. This allows you to easily open it up and collect your eggs with minimal disturbance to the hen house as a whole.

You’ll find they don’t need much space to lay their eggs, quite often we find two hens squashed together inside one tiny compartment of the nesting box even though the other 2 areas are completely free! Up to three hens will share one nesting box happily, but if you have three hens; two boxes will give them more options.

Nest boxes should be lined with soft dry bedding material and raised from the ground. If the nesting boxes are positioned higher than the perches what tends to happen is your hens will sleep in their nesting box because it’s the highest place.

This isn’t a problem as such but what you will find is they will foul their laying area (hens produce a large amount of their droppings at night) and then quite happily lay right on top of it! So if you want clean eggs look for a coop which has the perches high up.

We have designed all our wooden coops so that the perches are either in line or higher than the bottom of the nesting box so there is less chance of this happening

At night, hens like to perch as high above the ground as they can, as this gives them a sense of safety from predators. Perches made from plastic or metal piping are not suitable for chickens, as they cannot grip the perch properly.

In fact, chickens prefer to perch on a flat surface with gently curving edges so their feet are protected as they grip onto it. So the perch should be about 3 to 4 cm wide, with curved edges. So often we see suppliers selling coops with perches that are not correctly made.

When assessing a hen house take close look at the perches. They should be wide, flat and rounded off at the top. All our coops have perches that are made this way.

You should also be able to remove your perches for cleaning, and they should be positioned well away from food or water, as chicken can create over 50% of their droppings during the night.

As you collect eggs nearly every day, it makes sense to choose a chicken coop that offers an easy way to access those eggs, with the minimum disturbance to your hens. Also, your hen house will need regular cleaning to keep your chickens in good condition, so ease of cleaning should be a major consideration.

Look for hen houses that have easy access to the nesting area as well as pull out trays and removable perches.

Regular cleaning will not only avoid the build-up of droppings but also reduces the opportunities for pests and diseases to take hold. A weekly clean should only take around 15 minutes in a well-made and maintained hen house.

So ask yourself: Will it be easy to clean and collect eggs?

Moving on…

You may not realize but the air inside a chicken coop can quickly become toxic due the high level of ammonia given off by the chicken’s droppings.  Inadequate ventilation can lead to respiratory problems in your hens, so it is important to keep fresh air circulating.

You may have also heard that chickens do not tolerate drafts, and that the ventilation must be such that there are no drafts. In my experience chickens are hardy, and well insulated from the elements, and as long as they don’t have a continuous blast of cold air in their faces then air circulation inside the coop is actually a good thing.

Remember to ask yourself :  Is it well ventilated?

We have designed our coops so that the ventilation holes are near the top of the coop. This way it allows for the toxic air to escape without your chickens being in a draft.

Will the coop keep your hens safe from predators and does it provide adequate protection from the elements?

Your chicken coop must be secure against predators including foxes and to a lesser extent rats. A housing area that is raised off the ground offers better protection from predators trying to dig their way in.

Also get into a habit of checking your coop and run when you collect your eggs, for any signs of damage or gnawing.  Both of these are signs of potential predators trying to get in.

Your hen house should also be weatherproofed sufficiently for the UK weather, and if you invest in a wooden coop then you should consider treating it with animal-friendly preservatives, ideally once a year.