4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Tombull10]

Hi guys,

 

Another question for the forum!! I bought home 3 ex batts yesterday. Up until now they have pretty much just stood still looking shocked and bewildered. Suddenly 2 of them seem to be constantly fighting and pecking at each other. It seems to be the 2 'feisty' birds that are really going for it. The 3rd has been the quietest all along and is just sat in the corner of the eglu looking terrified while the other 2 battle away around her. Is this normal or is it something i should be worrying about?? (To be fair i'm worrying about everything at the moment!!)

 

I figured that at least it's not the 2 'feisty' birds picking on the quiet one so i'm assuming they're sorting out the pecking order?? Should i be worried or just let them sort it out amongst themselves?

 

Thanks for any advice.

[Redwing]

I'd leave them to it unless they start drawing blood, they have had to be tough to fight for room in the cage living at such close quarters to each other so apparently do arrive a bit spoiling for a fight sometimes!

 

The pecking order should establish reasonably quickly but do keep a close eye out for injuries

[abwsco]

Not sure how many feeding/watering stations you have but I'd have three as food time always seemed to be the worst. You could also spray them all with an anti pecking spray. I got some from our local pet shop. Think it was called anti nibble spray and designed for parrots/cockatiels etc. Hopefully they'll settle down soon when they realise they no longer have to fight for everything.

[Electricbarbarella]

mine have started now as well, it is horrible to see isnt it?

[alih]

it sounds like pecking order stuff - mine are still very quiet and still

[poachedegg]

Ours seem to have calmed down a little, though they are still having little spats at each other, nothing like the full on fighting of last night and this morning though.......so fingers crossed.

[raffik]

I put my new ex bat chook in with my other two girls last night under the cover of darkness and they all went to sleep snuggled up against one another (Bless!)

 

This morning, when I let them out, there was quite a bit of violent pecking!

Belina grabbed hold of Sally's large floppy comb and wouldn't let go, flying all around the garden. I felt so sorry for poor Sal, who tried to run and flap her way out of harm's way!

 

They will sort it out in their own way. Unless they are drawing blood, I wouldn't worry too much. I closed Sally into the run on her own so she could get to food and water without the other two intimidating her. I did this for about half an hour and then opened the door again and everything seems to be Ok!

 

It was great to see Sally exploring her new home. She was eating the ice off the run bars because I don't think she's worked out the glug yet, although she now eats out of the grub container.

 

I was thinking about investing in a super glug. Can anyone let me know if this is suitable for a normal eglu and would it be difficult to teach my older hens how to use it??

 

Thanks x

[Falkor]

I have a super glug and it fits above the run door of my . My three ladies were used to the normal glug but i took this away when i introdcued the super and they cottoned on in about half hour. i just flicked the nipples a few times and they all came and investigated.

 

I was a little concerned that Gin wasn`t drinking very much but i started spying from an upstair window and it seems she was just shy as she was using the S glug quite happily.

 

Well done all for rescuing ex-batts and hopefully all will calm down soon.

[Tombull10]

Thanks amillion for all the advice guys!! I've been out for the afternoon which was probably for the best as i couldn't stop checking on them every 2 minutes and trying to break up the fighting. I was worried all afternoon and then while i was out the snow started. I was thinking that they would all be stood out in the run freezing to death. When I got home just I've had a little nose in the eggport and the quiet little one is snoozing in the nesting box with the two feisty ones perched on the side almost on top of her. It all looked very cosy and all was quiet so all i had to do was close the eglu door, unlike last nights bedtime which involved grabbing them from the run and posting them through the eggport to show them where bed is!! It seems that routine is setting in already.

 

Hopefully all will quieten down now but please keep the advice coming as re-assurance that all is well means alot at the minute.

 

Thanks again everyone for your advice.

[poachedegg]

Ours have put themselves to bed tonight too!

 

Whilst ours are not harmonious they are definitely a little more tolerant of each other....only a little though!

[alih]

Mine have put themselves to bed too tonight - am delighted! They just need to start eating and I will relax a bit! Prob a good thing that am out at work tomorrow so, like Tom, am not out checking every 2 minutes. My big girls are extremely interested and the batties seem to like the stimulus and wake up a bit when they are around outside the run.

 

Fellow ex batt newbies, can you imagine the day when our new girls behave like the bruisers do? I felt such a sense of relief and satisfaction when I saw them drinking from the superglug! Small steps but good ones

[Redwing]

Well done you guys! it sounds like its all falling in to place

[Tombull10]

Hi again guys,

 

What do you think I should do? I'm not so worried about the first 2 anymore. They seem to be eating and drinking ok when they're not pecking each other, but my poor little timid girl who doesn't get involved in the fighting just sits in the nesting box making a kind of squeeling noise. Should I get her out of the eglu and in the run, maybe shutting the other 2 in for half an hour so she can get some food and water without feeling intimidated?? Any advice greatfully recieved!

[Tombull10]

Hi again guys,

 

What do you think I should do? I'm not so worried about the first 2 anymore. They seem to be eating and drinking ok when they're not pecking each other, but my poor little timid girl who doesn't get involved in the fighting just sits in the nesting box making a kind of squeeling noise. Should I get her out of the eglu and in the run, maybe shutting the other 2 in for half an hour so she can get some food and water without feeling intimidated?? Any advice greatfully recieved!

[Alfred]

I had one like that at first. It was quite heart breaking to watch. I put the bully hen in a wire cat cage inside the main run for short periods. Then the timid one realised it was safe and came out and ate and drank. She also liked jumping onto the cat cage to torment the imprisoned evil hen! I think this helped to make her feel more secure. It took a few weeks for things to settle down completely though. After about 3 days I let them free range which improved things as well.

Another thing I did was put some bars accross the run at intervals so that they couldn't chase each other round as much.

Interestingly, the timid hen was the last one to start laying, but since then, she has become much more confident. Now they are all very good friends.

Good luck!

[raffik]

Hi Tombull

 

My new girl Sally is getting bullied as well Whenever she tries to come out of the Eglu, Belina, my , (the highest in the pecking order) flies at her and grabs hold of her comb and won't let go. Sally runs back into the Eglu and won't come out

 

I am worried her. It's really distressing to see. How long will this last?

[abwsco]

Hi Tombull

 

My new girl Sally is getting bullied as well Whenever she tries to come out of the Eglu, Belina, my , (the highest in the pecking order) flies at her and grabs hold of her comb and won't let go. Sally runs back into the Eglu and won't come out

 

I am worried her. It's really distressing to see. How long will this last?

 

Have you added a single ex batt to two existing ones? If so the exbatt will be considerable weaker than the other ones and should really have some time on her own to adjust to life outside the cages. Sorry if I've got the wrong end of the stick and they're all exbatts. If they're all exbatts take the bully one out for a bit.

[poachedegg]

We're having a bullying problem too - the actual fighting has stopped, however Lily is on such a downer with Daisy - just pecking at her for no reason and Daisy looks quite miserable. Hopefully as the fighting has calmed down this will also.....fingers crossed.