Introducing a second female to the flock

[Loz]

First up: This is not imminent. I am simply reconsidering my options in the future.

I have been adamant that one hen in a budgie flock is sufficient. (It was an accident anyway, I misidentified Squeak when I bought him*cough*her*cough.) My only concerns over adding another hen are incompatibility with the resident hen (Squeak) and the multiplication of the chances that an unplanned clutch of eggs could occur.

What am I failing to consider? Are there advantages to introducing a second hen? Are the dangers greater than I have anticipated? For background, I have a flock of seven budgies and a kakariki who are mostly flying free during the day plus two male budgies in quarantine for the next two-three weeks.

I'd love to hear some speculation and some experiences from other forum members!

(Squeak is literally staring at me as I type this. WTH?)

[Marianne Marlow]

Hens can be a challenge (as you know with Chocobo!)

My two flying hens, Daisy and Iris are constantly biting the backs of curtains and Iris is always looking for a nesting spot.

Sometimes 3 of the boys decide to try and pursue Iris at the same time, this means there are many arguments!

A previous hen, Abbie, was so bad with biting everything curtains, furniture etc that we had to rearrange one end of the living room. One day I came home and couldn't find her, she had fallen down the back of a bookcase!

[skysmum]

I’ve had many hens over the years and it’s no secret on here that I absolutely love them, they are quite different to the boys in terms of getting up to no good as M had said but they are very endearing.
Many of my hens have formed very strong bonds with other hens and I can honestly say I’ve never had 2 hens fight.
That said I have had fisty cuffs between the boys over them which is why I normally try and keep and even number of girls to boys, if you have one or two girls and half a dozen boys there will be trouble.
As for unwanted clutches, as long as you don’t provide any nest boxes and watch out for them finding a nest site all should be well, I’ve had the odd egg dropped from a hen but as long as you dispose straight away and change things up she will often get over the idea, I don’t think they are as tenacious as a Chocobo 😂. Yes they will get up to no good with the boys if you catch my drift but it won’t necessarily lead to eggs.

Soap box away/all hail to hens, over to you 😂

[Loz]

Thank you Marianne Marlow and skysmum

Helpful food for thought!