jills Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 All has gone terribly pear shaped today! Moved my 3 hens to a friends land nearby last Sunday, and introduced them to 2 new hens of hers. I thought they would be OK as the situation was new to all of them. There has been a bit of chasing around and feather pulling, but nothing major, and one of the newbies has even been sleeping in the nest box with 2 of mine. Went down this morning at 7am to let them out of the Eglu and the 4 of them had ganged up on one of the new ones and were pecking her backside so badly that it was pouring with blood. Have isolated her into a makeshift henhouse and mini run, have bathed her in salt water and sprayed some veterinary antiseptic. She's still fairly perky but the damage looks dreadful. Any advice as to why this has happened, what should I do now etc would be gratefully received. Also I now can't help disliking my hens, when I was very fond of them before. Has anyone else ever come across this kind of behaviour. Am feeling quite stressed and very upset. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minnie the Moocher Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Aren't they terrible creatures when they gang up? I've seen them all being perfectly tolerant of an interloper (a pheasant) in their run, all ignoring him and pecking about quietly, then suddenly one has a go and they all join in, and they can be MEAN. I hope your hen is OK - thank goodness you were there before things got any worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol U Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Oh poor you. What an awful thing to happen. It's impossible to know what set it off, but unfortunately, it just takes one peck to draw blood and then they all home in on it. I'm afraid it's just what chickens do. I would isolate the new one, keep her clean and disinfected and maybe get some anti-peck spray. Then, when she has healed, introduce them gradually again. While she's recovering, perhaps it would be possible to have her in a separate run or maybe a fenced off bit of the existing one, so that they can see one another but the injured one can be safe. I'm sure it will all settle down again - it's just a matter of patience. When I introduced new ones, my two placid old things instantly turned into total savages - I hardly recognised them. It took a few weeks before I could safely leave them all together, but it was worth the wait. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jills Posted April 13, 2009 Author Share Posted April 13, 2009 Thanks for such quick responses. The injured hen is separated and has settled down for the night. I hope she's going to be OK but the injuries look horrible, and I feel so responsible. Can anyone advise about anti peck spray and where i could get some? I'm worried about the other new hen now. My 3 have gone to sleep in the nest box as usual and she is on her own on the roosting bars. My friend is going to let them out into their run at 6.00am tomorrow. I've scrubbed down the inside of the eglu and got rid of all the blood in case the scent sets them off again. And chicken keeping was supposed to be a relaxing hobby! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minnie the Moocher Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 It'll all settle down again. I use plain old veterinary spray (£7 ish) which is antiseptic and apparently tastes vile. Well judging by their reactions it does! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 It may be worth considering putting the 2 new ones together when the injured one has recovered sufficiently. Then introducing the two over several weeks. From posts on here, introductions take a while and have to be done very carefully. I'm sure you'll get lots of advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
