Poorly chicken

[Steph101]

Please help!

I know I've done a bad thing. We had our three girls from Omlet five weeks ago. Then we regretted not getting four, as we'd got enough room.

So we bought another one on Monday. We knew about the 'pecking order', but no way did I think it would be like this. Such vicious attacks from the boss chicken. And the others are starting to copy. We've initially seperated them, but they are still having a good old peck through the fence. Last night the boss chicken made her comb bleed! I feel so bad.

We've gone from harmonious chicken joy to chicken hell! You would never have dreamt how they can turn. A colleague who I work with, who has kept chickens says it will just get worse if anything. Barbara at Omlet said there should be harmony after a few days, but it's difficult to see that right now.

Apparently if they draw blood, they can cannibalise. Horrific!

I'm at a loss what to try next. It's making me ill. Seriously.

Steph.

[Egluntyne]

It was probably a mistake to get just the one. Safety in numbers and all that.

 

I would isolate the nasty one and see if the new girl will be accepted by the others. If so, I'd keep the other one out of the flock for a few days, and then when she comes back in she might be wrong footed and a bit meeker.

 

It is a good idea to have at least 3 feed and drink stations, as generally, they can only "man" 2, and often bullying starts around food issues.

 

Another tip is to spray them all at night with tea tree oil spray, or vinegar, so that they all have the same flock smell, and one doesn't stand out.

 

Gentian Violet Spray will disguise any blood, so if her comb bleeds again, a squirt of that might be a good idea. Pet shops or "Horsey"shops will sell it.

 

It is horrible to watch, but it will settle in time. As a rule peace will have broken out by the time 3 weeks is up.

 

Letting them freerange together under supervision is a good team building exercise too.

 

Good luck.

[Mirkwood]

oh im sorry to her that im sure someone will give you some adive but in the mean time you could read through the topic regarding to bullying.

Poor girl i hope every thing is good for her

[Carol U]

Please don't be too upset. Honestly, it will get better. I introduced three new ones in January and my two placid, friendly hens turned into savage, flesh eating monsters! I kept them separate during the day, but so that they could see one another and at night, once they had roosted, I tucked the new ones in with the old - removing them next morning before I opened the eglu door. After three days I let them freerange together under supervision, with the new ones having space to run away when they needed to. By the end of the week they were putting themselves to bed together, although there were still fights over food and general bullying during the day. By the end of three weeks, I could safely leave them alone together and now they are all the best of friends. Make sure you have lots of food and water stations around - I put small bowls of both in as many places as possible. For treats, I kept them separate for a while too. Good luck and do come back if you need to.

[mayflower]

This last 2 days I have been having the same problem and it's getting worse...so much in fact that 4 of the hens actually look worse than when we rescued them because of Alice. This afternoon I noticed that Lucy was bleeding on her tail and her chest...which has no feathers anyway is bright red with soreness. I managed to pick her up and gently sooth in some Aloe Vera animal gell which is reccommended by vets. Also, Suki, has been attacked on her breast and losing feathers. When I picked her up and stroked her breast the feathers were coming away in my hands. I understand this is a sign of severe stress. May has her white feathers showing on her back now. I shut Alice up in the henhouse, meaning to leave her there for half an hour. However, she was calling out and started to become distressed so I gave in. At first light they will go outside in the extended run. I have been putting it off because of featherless Lucy who has a wheeze since we had her. Her breathing is quite laboured. However, I will have to take a risk. I have this feeling of forboding that Suki and Lucy are not going to survive. Up until today, Lucy has been so postive and happy, but now even she is running away from Alice. Tomorrow I will be buying the tea tree oil to see if that helps. I've honestly done all I can to keep them healthy. Lifeguard in their water, poultry spice. They have even been eating corn out of my hand. They enjoy our company and are eating well, though egg production has stopped which was to be expected for a while. Just wanted to write and share my feelings because I am concerned about the situation. We do have a small wooden henhouse with run that I could put Alice in if the situation becomes unbearable. However, she then has to be reintroduced to the flock and I'm not sure that's the answer. Hope you do'nt mind me writing. I know I do'nt sound positive at present. Sorry.xxx

[Eyren]

Hi Mayflower and jimbo

 

I know just how stressful it is when your chickens turn nasty - the same happened to me a couple of weeks ago, when I bought a couple of new bantams and my top hen turned nasty on them, pinning one of them to the ground and pecking her face

 

To be honest, I would isolate the bully and let the rest of them settle down. I've done it with mine, putting the bully and her best friend in separate quarters, and moving the new girls in with my old wyandotte who is mostly pretty calm - and the difference is surprising. The three are quite happy together, with only the mildest of hen-pecking, and the bully girl is a lot more submissive. You have to take on the role of cockerel (no, seriously!) and break up their fights, and they will start to behave a lot better

 

Good luck!

[mayflower]

Thanks for the advice. Yes, I think I will isolate her in the small wooden henhouse. How long do you think I should isolate her for?

[Imo]

Not sure how much advice I can give, because I've never heard anyone else doing this but I've never experienced any serious bullying - I can tolerate [though I hate to watch it] the establishment of a pecking order, but I really hate watching the hens bully each other.

Harsh as it may sound, I will sit out and spray the offending bully with just one squirt of water immediately after pecking nastily.

All it does is shock the bully into stopping.

If you time it right, it works wonders. The hen associates the pecking with the water, and doesn't do it anymore That's my mentality behind it. I think I've only squirted Vivienne 3 times when she was being mean to Queenie - now, only 5 days since we got the two, they're huddled up together at night, and Queenie will even sit with Vivienne when she's laying her egg.

Having said all this, I've never experienced any bloodshed. Removing the bully sounds like a good idea - it's probably time for some tough love!

I hope I've helped a little, best of luck. Let us know how it goes!

[Steph101]

Thanks so much everyone. Your comments are really appreciated.

I will try out the things you've suggested; what have I got to lose?

I can't watch the bullying. It's too much to bear.

I'll keep you posted on their progress.

 

Steph.

[Tiggy]

I got some anti peck spray from Barbara at omlet it seemed to work well

[Egluntyne]

I would isolate her for 3 or 4 days, maybe up to a week.

[Steph101]

Well, I was going to remove the bully, but now they all seem to be having a go at the newcomer, so I don't know what to do.

One of them made her comb bleed again yesterday, but she seems to have a habit of going up to them and pecking them, but in a friendly way, so they retaliate viciously as she is not accepted. I'm free ranging them all the time, and all seems ok until she tries to join in with their little group, or one of them make eye contact with her - then they chase her away.

I've ordered some anti peck spray, gentian spray and vet wound powder in case things get nasty. Barbara assures me things with have setled in about three weeks. A colleague of mine who keeps chickens says it will just get worse! I hope he's wrong. What a depressing outlook.

Do you think they will accept her eventually? It's painful to watch.

Shall I split the group in half? Would introducing yet another chicken just make things worse? Sounds mad I know, but I'm grabbing at straws because I am just desperate to break the bullying cycle. If anyone has any tips or advice, it would be most appreciated. I'm at my wit's end. Steph.

[Noodle]

Hi there

I am having similar problems. Dot died a couple of weeks ago and I was left with two. Dippy was becoming more and more dominant so last weekend I picked up a beautiful Amber Star - Lolli. We seperated the run but she broke through twice (like a toddler wanting to make friends) All hell broke loose and she ended up pinned to the floor by her neck.

We seperated them til bed time and then they all slept together but we were woken at 5.30 Easter Sunday by the most awful notice. They had to be seperated and the run division was reinforced.

On Easter Monday I ran the breeder who thought it would be a good idea to get a second newbie so off we went again and picked up a lovely little ISA Brown.

To cut a long story short, we were recommended to let them sort it out amongst themselves. The bullying continues, the newbies spend alot of time in the eglu (altho I do free range the other two so that they can eat). We have bought a rabbit hutch so that top chook Dippy can have time out (on the naughty step as my OH calls it) but I just think this makes her more mad

I came home from work yesterday to find my origional two looking like drowned rats as my OH had spent the afternoon squirting them with a hose everytime they attacked! Has made little difference

Today we are going to spray them all with vinegar. My OH wants to take the origional girls to the farm up the road and start again but I really love my girlies and would hate to do so.

Have also just ordered a ' lucky run' 10ft x 5ft in the hope that a new enviroment and more space will be helpful.

Ahhhh the things we do for our chooks

[Steph101]

It's really distressing, isn't it? As an experiment, we've just split the two groups up to see what happens. All is calm for the time being. I am hoping that this will change the dynamics of the group. I'm sorry to hear you are not faring much beter than us. Keep me posted on your situation.

 

Steph.

[Trapper]

Has anyone tried using the anti-peck spary that Omlet sell.

 

One of my RIR is pecking at 2 of my Miss Pepperpots and they are starting to lose feathers.

 

Will ring Barbara on monday to find out and maybe buy some.

[mayflower]

Hi the situation is still the same with our hens. Sooo My darling hubby---bless him is out there now, even as I write this, building a huge walk in run for them all. He's soaked through with the rain!!! I have sent away for an anti pecking device from the 'Wernlas Collection' as I feel that I need to take decisive action. In the meantime the girls do separate themselves from Alice, either going back into the cube or standing at the end of the run. At present, there are feathers everywhere! and yes, Alice also goes for the neck and pins the hens down. Not Nice.

[Olly]

Well having posted on Thursday morning about pecking-order problems, I am amazed at what two days in the 'time-out' Eglu have done. I took the two bully girls back up to the Cube this afternoon and shoved them through the eggport while the other three girls, who have now bonded nicely, were pecking around downstairs.

 

Sadie flew down the ladder, and headed straight for the peck-a-block. Pepper sat in the nest-box clucking in a VERY cross manner for ages. I had to go out then, but I've just been back up the garden and all five seemed to be interacting calmly, no pecking or bullying that I could see. It may all be different in the morning, but so far I am feeling much better about it. Hope you can sort your problems out - I do think that distractions such as peck-a-block or swinging cabbages are a help.

[Steph101]

Hi there.

Just got back from a trip to the Wernlas Collection in Craven Arms; the lady we spoke to was really helpful. She gave us some bumper bits, and explained how to fit them. Took five minutes to do four chickens!

This is mainly down to my hubby's skill, though. I held each chicken in a towl, my son held the head still, and my husband fitted the things!

We gave them a good soak in hot water first, as I read somewhere on here that it helps to soften them or something.

I have to confess, I couldn't look! We then put them down and sprayed them with a home made concoction of tea tree and lavender. They all looked really cheesed off, and went to bed earlier than usual, but it was really dark much earlier tonight, and the garden was a mud bath.

I'll let you all know how it goes.

Steph.

[Christian]

Good news Steph!

 

The hardest part of fitting them! (then watching the chickens shaking their heads for 5 mins )

 

hope they work for you, fingers crossed!

[superjules]

Hope it all works out for you Steph. Well done getting them fitted, I understand it's pretty tricky.

[Hen Watch]

Hi Steph. I introduced 1 new hen to 3 existing ones after only 1 month of having the original girls. I did exactly the same as "Carol U" in her earlier post.

 

I luckily had an unused childrens wendy house that the new girl lived in during the day when I was out. They free ranged together (and I placed chairs around the garden as the new girl could fly up on them but the others couldn't). Then popped her in the eglu after dark to sleep together.

 

8 days of nastiness including feather pulling and feather eating, then all was well. 10 months on and the new girl is still at the bottom of the pecking order but they all get on fine and have done since about week 2/3 of introductions.

[Steph101]

Thank you Hen Watch, that really is encouraging; it gives me hope.

You didn't keep them completely seperate during the day, then?

The Wendy house was just in case she wanted to lay or somewhere to retreat to? How useful! I'll let you know how things go. They all look a bit sorry for themselves this morning wearing these bumper bits! Gotta be 'cruel to be kind' though.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I'm was considering introducing one new girl but now I'm not so sure . It sounds like it's really stressful and upsetting .

 

I hope you all have peace and harmony soon . (I'll be checking this post out in case we do go ahead .)

[Steph101]

Don't do it! If I could turn the clock back, there's no way I'd go through this again. We should have just ordered two gingernuts and two pepperpots from the beginning. I thought we were really doing a good thing when we bought our new girl too. The conditions they were kept in on this farm in Redditch were disgusting; it was really upsetting. The farmer handled them really roughly. We asked him to clip her wings for us, which I regretted. He used blunt scissors, and drew blood. They were all crowded, indoors in the dark, along with tons of other farm animals, dozens of chickens, cockerels, cows, sheep and pigs. All in the same room. The floor was just mud and concrete, they all looked really thin, and the feed was all stale and muddy! I wanted to take them all. She is a Hyline Brown, and these are a commercial breed usually sold for the battery market.

I rang the farmer the other day, and told him about the bullying.

He gave me a couple of tips, but asked me not to tell anyone as the animal welfare people would be on to him. He said, firstly, cut off the top of their beaks. Secondly, whenever I see the bully attack, immerse it in a bucket of freezing cold water for about six seconds, head held right under, until it is GASPING for air, then dunk it back in and do it again.

He said he's been doing it for years, and works for him every time. This sounds a bit extreme to me, and surely it would put them off laying!

But then, he's got so many chickens, and you could tell by the way he handled them he just considered them to be food products. Maybe I'm being naive; perhaps this is how farmers operate.

I felt, at the time, like we'd one a good deed. But if the bullying at her new home never settles, it's a case of out of the frying pan, into the fire, for want of a better expression. I'm just praying for a happy outcome.

Steph.

[superjules]

Oh my goodness - he obviously knows that what he advised you to do is wrong, otherwise he wouldn't have told you to not tell anyone. That sounds awful.

 

I don't know what I'd do in that situation, but I think it would bug me until I reported him I'm afraid.

 

Things will calm down with your hens in time, I'm sure. I'm so sorry you're having such a tough time of it.