Table of Contents
Misfit #1
A few weeks ago I shared that my growing Silver Gray Dorkings were struggling with Coccidiosis. I ended up with one that is coming along nicely. He has been getting stronger and proving how quick he can be.
He resides in my office in a card board box at night and….
has an outdoor pen during the day.
A few days ago it was too rainy to be outside. He escaped his box and by the time I went to put him back he had made himself at home on a fiddle case.
He does do a nice job of blending in.
Misfit #2
The broody Silver Gray Dorking (SGD) hen that was given the hatched chicks has struggled to rejoin the flock. She had been penned in a separate cage with in the SGD pen. Since allowing her to rejoin the flock she has been treated badly by one of the other SGD hens. Now, she too is in need of special accommodations.
She has been pecked repeatedly by the other hens in spite of my best efforts to provide multiple food and water sources for her and the other SGDs. Time to make some changes.
She spent the day in her own outside space, next to the grow out cockerel. She is an observant hen. A large bird flying overhead had her attention. She cocked her head over to the side intently eyeing the sky til it was gone.
Integration
In my mind I would like to allow them to share the same pen both inside(the barn) and out.
Day 1 ~ AM : I put them in the same pen and sat down to watch.
The young cockerel was hiding under his shelter and cautiously exited to drink water. The hen who had been happily eating became bent on pecking at the little guy. So for today, they will go back to separate pens next to each other.
PM: I put the SGD hen into the same outdoor pen as the growing SGD.
Day 2 ~ AM: I will call this successful. They are not exactly best friends but no one is being hateful either.
I am undecided if they will become a breeding pair.