I have 6 new Bantams either 4 hens, 2 roos, but likely 3/3. I put the adorable little hatch mates together, separate from my 7 older crew. Next am, someone removed the feathers from the back of the neck of a precious little speckled hen, and she appears not to stand up straight. I separated them immediately. Next day I trimmed her long feet feathers and a bit off her wings, she is growing by leaps and bounds, just darling, purrs & sings, very sweet. That happened a week or so ago. Today, I took her for an outing with her hatch mates and they jumped her, all 5 tried to peck her. She sleeps in the hen house at night but I separate her during daylight hours. Will I always have to do this?? If so, it will be worth it, but I'd love to try to try to get her back into the crowd. Any and all suggestions will be sincerely appreciated...I have 7 other Bantams and the ones that were here b4 this crew arrived, pay no attention to the hurt hen...
Bantams - family squabble
Wish I knew...Keeping them in close proximity while she heals is usually a good idea if it's workable...somebody?! I know the subject has come up before...
Hi Sherrylike,
If she still has any wounds that would make sense why they jumped her again and give hope that it will stop when she is completely healed. Once she's healed, I'd recommend trying to figure out if there's one main culprit and separate them out for awhile. Otherwise the bad habit will just continue to get worse. :-S
Good luck and keep us posted on what you find works for you!
Kristin
Lazy Ladies, that is a good idea. Pull out the trouble starter. I did that with my roo and it worked well. I removed him a couple weeks and everyone else got along fine. Then I put him back in later and he was the newbie. It worked well.
I pulled out another hen who was injured recently. I was warned that removing her for too long can cause her to loose her position in the flock. So I kept her time away to a minimum. She was still treated as an outsider for awhile. I am watching for further damage and blood. They rip out her back feathers like what you were talking about too. I have ordered her a saddle to protect her from future abuse. They should be here soon. Keep us updated! Good luck.
Thank all of you so much. Will report.
Sherry Sometimes it becomes impossible to reintroduce a chicken back into a flock. But still there is times when its possible it's all up to the temperment of the chickens.
What works for me is i put mine in a cage next to the others so they see them and get used to seeing and hearing them. It takes at least a month or more for this to take then i put them together at night. I make sure i'm there in the morning to stop any fights or injuries from happening.
I've had this work but it's not 100% and she may have to be removed permenantly.
Flocks have pecking orders and when one is removed they lose their statice in the flock. If removed for a long period when they are placed back they are seen as a enemy and will be attacked.
Saddles i don't agree with those if you have a chicken thats being injured by a roo get a new roo.
A roo should never be allowed to abuse hens to point they lose feathers or are injured that also goe's for picking hens.
If you put a saddle on a hen sure it keeps them from loseing feathers but it doe's not stop a rooster from over mounting a hen which i consider abuse. ( I'm sure the hen doesn't enjoy wearing them either)
I never allow abusive roos or hens in my flock all my chickens deserve to eat and be happy and i make sure of that.
Tweety, the hen that i am saddling is extremely small. She is even smaller than the new girls who are much younger. Not one of the other girls show any signs of feather loss. I am getting rid of one of my roos but I do not know if that will take care of it. I am saddling her because I do not want to get rid of her just because she is so small. My roo is not intentionally hurting her. He is just bigger than she is. I am not sure if she is being picked on by other hens. I am not out there when it occurs. She is simply very small.
Sewin IMHO you shouldn't have a small hen with a large roo as he is crushing her everytime he mounts her and he also may favor her as she is small and defenseless against him and the bigger hens.
This is just my opinion but i always take into account the hens feelings and needs before i ever even let my feelings about it come into play.
Hmmm: This is a very interesting debate. Saddles vs chicken size. After reading and pondering both issues I decided, just maybe this is what makes us so unique. That is (how we process and evaluate) our options. I think there is much to be said for both sides. I know it sure makes me think. Sometimes it's not just the size either, some breeds are much more aggressive than others. I have six white crested black polish and I finally had to put them in a seperate pen with a run because the others would peck their top hat's and they were always bloody. They have been seperated now for two months and are doing very well, lousy egg layers though. I talked with two large breeders from Australia and they both said they don't recommend polish crested be placed with any other type birds. Hmmm sometimes the solutions also depend on whats available to us. Anyway just a thought. Haystack
So polish just dont lay well? I was wondering about them. What size are their eggs?
I am hatching showgirls. (Turken and Silkies cross) The eggs seem odd to me. They are oblong. I am use to big roundish eggs. I dont know. We will not keep many of them if they are not egg producers. We will keep a few for fun but not a lot of them.
Hi Sew: According to the breeders the best of them lay only 7-10 eggs a month. I have only gotten one egg between four hens in two months. They are so friendly and one of the girls flies up on my shoulder all the time. But honestly I would never have them again. I have four hens and two roo's . The roos are very easy going, but their just not my kind. Trying to find homes for them. Maybe the stew pot with jellybean. They get expensive when they really serve no purpose. Hay
Gasp! Not Jellybean. Just the roos go to freezer camp.
At least they are nice. Friendly is good. I have a couple who fly up onto my hands, unfortunately I usually have full hands. hehehe 7-10 eggs is not much! wow and thats between 4 hens. I guess that is why the hatching eggs are soo expensive. It takes awhile to get enough to ship! Polish are officailly off my list. I cant afford any rooms for free loaders. hehehe They sure are cute though. ^_^
Unfortuntely they aren't even cute. and oh yes their eggs are banty size. I'm with you, I just gotta find someone who wants them. I'd ship them to you free. Ahh come on, you know you want to hug em... Don't you?
I find some breeds are just for ornamental keeping and would never be good egg producers.
Silkies are cute but you have a hard time making breakfast with their eggs.
Polish are the same just for looks and for show of course.
The Bantams i raise are very popular for one reason showing them it's BIG here in Ga.
Jelly Bean is Offended and is sulking in her bed she can't understand why so many want to eat her.
She thought DGrs were nice and now she is afraid:(
It's a fine line between cute and delectable...a girl needs to know that MOM!!
My little plucked hen is better but, despite clipping her feet feathers, she's still not walking straight. I wonder if she ends up crippled, if the others will leave her alone. She is an unusually sweet girl and I'll build her a yard-of-her-own if necessary. Thanks!
Remember the rabbit from Monty Python? All you diner types may be visited by it...
For all you know, Jelly Bean may think you'd taste awful good as alfalfa...
{{{show the teeth, JB}}}
This message was edited Jan 20, 2009 4:43 PM
As long as nobody goes out demanding shrubberies I think we're clear, but Jelly Bean may take it under advisement....
"We are the knights of Nee, and we demand a shrubbery"!
This message was edited Jan 22, 2009 12:14 PM
That was then, this is now...
JB has no cravings for shrubbery, he's into upholstery.
He's an urbane bunny, he chews the DVD.
Like all good bunny-crats,
he's multilingual in pidgin and duck.
He draws the line at kitty cats,
and Grownut and Haystack are outa luck.
No blue-eyed bunny winkles for them,
just the beady eyed glare of a pox-ridden hen.
Tah-tah...
==:o) JB
This message was edited Jan 22, 2009 4:40 PM
Yargle!! Were you riding your stick horse as you said that?!! Poetical...hehehehe....
Reeeally bad poetry lives!!!
LOL
A threat worse than death...
Jay
Sherry, I think if she ends up crippled, it would be worse. They pick on the helpless even worse. I hope you are able to re introduce her someday.
If it were me, I'd do the pen next to the pen thing. I had a couple of youngsters that were terrible for picking on a couple of others.. I divided them with a wire wall.. and they got to missin that snuggly warmth and settled down pretty quick! :)
Good luck!
That helps, ZZ, thanks!!! I have the time/energy and have already started that and will continue with more confidence, thanks to yu!!