Hello, strangers

When small numbers of poultry are kept, recognition between them is strong. Introduce a stranger and fowls and turkeys turn aggressive, geese will try and drive them out and Japanese quail attack and scalp them. Ducks are more accepting, although Muscovies are capable of noisy combat.

It’s no wonder the commercial industry has settled on an all-in–all-out system for managing the turnover of different age groups. This strategy controls disease transmission but also eliminates potential socialisation problems.

Of course, if introducing new birds was as dire as suggested, backyards would be populated with poultry sheds, one for