If you do not know what to do with your lazy Sunday morning then getting more hens is certainly the way to add great excitement and a pinch of stress to your day! Particularly if you are not-so-experienced poultry keeper like us!

We set our hearts on two pretty hens from Stagenhoe Farm: a snowy white Walden Sussex with a black pearl collar and a stunning, multi-colored partridge leghorn laying pure white eggs. Proud of our impulse purchase we have introduced new birds to the flock. To our surprise the girls did not share our admiration!

It’s shocking how instantly our lovely natured hens turned into feisty bullies! They literally turned the pen upside down chasing the new comers! The only distraction from the vicious pecking was feeding but even that was short lived and proved to be a mean opportunity to harass newbies by blocking their way to food and drink!

After a couple of hours of “let them sort it out among themselves” approach, we decided to take things into our own hands. Having collected the new girls from the roof where they sought safety, we sprayed their feathers with anti-pecking liquid and separated them from the others with chicken mesh.

To end this drama we started to call around to find a cockerel to re-introduce a peaceful order…the saga continues.