Poo help please!

[mikk100]

Hi, I have just gotten myself 5 ex-battery hens and had read up/bought books/got my first aid kit together and had my eglu cube months in advance. Now I suddenly feel its getting on top of me. After about a day I noticed one particular hen (Dorothy) seemed to be getting nibbled at from the other hens, the following day after being left in the run all day we came back from work to find her bleeding round her tail where they'd obviously had a right go at her, we let them in the garden and it was all calm. She has since avoided the other hens whenever they are together free ranging but she sneaks off up into the cube and snuggles in the nest box as soon as she can.

 

We have 'resolved' the issue so far by leaving her out during the day and the others in the run but this is not ideal for obvious foxy reasons. We then let them all out when we come home and she just avoids them but looks all sad on her own all the time. Night times haven't been a problem because she is already in bed when the others go up and there have been no signs of blood or anything in the mornings.

 

Tonight when it was time for them to go back in the run they all piled on top of her and totally attacked her in the run until I opened the door and she ran out 100 miles an hour. I then put her straight into the nest box knowing that they don't do anything at bed time...then from the house I heard such a load of noise and went to check, there was blood all over the inside of the cube and she looks to have had a back claw (the thumb?) ripped out and is also bleeding from a wing and the top of her head. She was making a funny noise but walking about ok, she had a wander round the kitchen and I cleaned her up but now she's in a cat box of straw in the bottom of the run and I've no idea what to do tomorrow!!!!

 

My OH suggests leaving them all out because she has to get integrated but I'm more leaning towards finding her another home, coming home to find them all killed would just be too horrible. Any suggestions????

[Chook n Boo Mum]

Crikey what a nightmare, you are not incompetant, just inexperienced!

 

Do you have a separate house you can put her in until she is strong/healed enough to go back with the rest of them?

 

Have you noticed any one of the other is the main culprit? Maybe once Dorothy is better you can use the extra house as solitary confinement for the bully, if it's all of them obviously that won't work!

 

Do they attack each other when they are out & about....can you increase the size of your run? In my opinion, the standard cube run is not big enough for 5 chooks, especially feisty madams like batties. If there was more space for Dorothy to escape, maybe that would also help.

 

Have you considered fitting bumper bits to all of the girls? From what I gather they can still eat and drink adequately, but cannot inflict so much damage on the other birds. Some people on here have had great results with them, others not so great, I have no experience but it seems as though it may work for you...or at least is worth a try!

 

I hope Dorothy heals quickly and peace breaks out over your little flock Do keep us informed,

 

Sha x

[Plum]

Poor you, what a start but you are not alone. A lot have posted on here about problems with introductions. I've not had personal experience but I am sure someone will be along soon to give you help.

 

I would clean her up and spray with purple spray or an antiseptic but you may have done that. Would you be able to borrow a rabbit cage or dog crate to keep her safe until she heals?

 

Another thought is the run, if it is the standard run she may not have room to escape.

 

Some omlet people loan out eglus and could you put her there with one of the others to start getting them used to each other.

 

 

Sha you have given all the good advice

[gemschooks]

oh you poor thing - it all sounds very stressful for you.

 

I have had a few episodes of bullying in the past, and what i have tended to do is separate the bullied one until she is a bit stronger as wild mum says. A good way of doing this in the day is having a container (I have a big dog crate as advised by theherd) next to the run, so that the girls can be together without being a harm to each other. I think the idea is they get used to the smell of each other etc.

 

You can gradually integrate at night when they are sleepy (although be careful with the mornings) or i used to let them out to free range together but distract them with treats - like sweetcorn and mealworms. This seemed to deter them from the bullying! If there is blood or an open wound it does seem to attract attention/bullying so i think you can buy a purple spray that stops them, or use that antipeck spray that they don't like the taste of - i haven't used either of these.

 

Perhaps the other thing to keep in mind is given the early days of having them they are still establishing the pecking order. Other people might be more knowledgable about this, but in my experience this involves some early squabbles and then they usually settle.

 

hope this helps, it is horrid when they are fighting. best of luck

[Chucky Mama]

I can't really offer any advise but just wanted to say sorry that you have had such an awful start to chicken keeping. It really is great fun and definately worth sticking with. I wouldn't take any chances with your bullied chicken as agree that it would be awful if she got more seriously hurt or worse. Good luck

[Ain't Nobody Here]

You poor thing . What a horrible start to your chicken keeping . As others have said, you mustn't feel it's your incompetence that's causing this - experienced chicken keepers have suffered just the same situation. I don't have first hand experience so can't offer any more advice than the others have. Good luck .

[mikk100]

Thanks everyone, this morning I let the other 4 out of the cube thinking they'd go straight out into the garden but when they all realised Dorothy was in her cat box they went straight for it, trying to get their heads through the bars on the door. Poor thing was terrified so I got them all out of the run and let her out of her box, they seemed to surround the run and she was so scared even though they couldn't get in, she tried to jump up onto my knee to hide (very sweet but I'm trying to remind myself they are not meant for cuddling), she then got into the cube and just stood at the top of the stairs looking scared whilst the others circled....seriously like being in the jungle. I did then let her out with them and they have given her the odd peck as she's passed them but won't let her feed,I've now got 6 bowls of food around the garden but whenever she goes near one, another hen rushes over and gets rid of her, she's pretty scared and keeps on getting in the kitchen when they chase her as though she is safe when we are around but that can't go on...have to go to work for a start!

 

Think I will have to lock her up or the other 4 for today, or leave her out with one other and think about getting another house, maybe a little eglu for her to stay seperate because I'm not really comfortable with them free ranging when no-one's around. Is it cruel to keep one hen on her own, she doesn't really run with the flock anyway and seems to prefer our company? I could always ask some friends to keep her but she would definitely be on her own then....

 

PS I've watched proceedings this morning and whilst there is a definite top of the hierarchy she is not doing all the bullying they have all had a go at her, I reckon evil Gladys is putting them up to it!

[Chucky Mama]

Just bumping your post up so that someone more knowledgeable about this sort of thing spots your post.

[legend21]

Hi, i have 6 ex batts and one in particular is bullied the most, when I first got them I wanted to cry it was so hard to watch, she is still my favourite. Like you I have 6 bowls and someone always chases her from the food, when I am there I squirt water on anyone who chases her. They did draw blood but it has quietened down and we do let them free range a lot. I have picked another chicken and I let them sometimes go to another part of the garden together and they have a good old time, in fact when the other chicken sees me pick her up she runs over knowing they are going on a little trip to the front garden. It breaks your heart, I would rather give away the other five than the bullied one. Hope it gets better for you it is worth it as I want more of them

 

good luck

 

Jackie

[Tweety]

Hi, I'm sorry to hear about poor Dorothy - ex batts can be very nasty to each other whilst they are settling down and sorting out the pecking order, but you have been very unlucky.

 

As the others have said, you really need to separate Dorothy from the others until her wounds have healed otherwise they will continue to attack her. Keep her within sight of the others though. Once the wounds have healed, you will have to reintroduce her very gradually - there is lots of information re intros on the forum, and I have found it to be very successful with my girls. I think that you may need to extend the cube run too - the standard run isn't big enough for 5 ex batts to be kept in for any length of time.

 

I really hope that things work out for you and for Dorothy - it has been a horrible start to keeping chickens, but hopefully things will settle down before too long. It is not recommended to keep one hen on her own - they really need to be with others. Good luck!

[mikk100]

Just an update; have ordered a little eglu to arrive this week, that was with a view to housing Dorothy plus one other and if necessary things can stay like that. However every one of them has a go at her so not sure who to put her with. When I let her out of the run to escape, one bird in particular (she is the most vicious and did the real damage to Dorothy) turns her attention to the next smallest bird so I have to let her out. When I do that the next smallest bird goes for Dorothy so I can't win.

 

It is all really bad when they are in the run so I will buy the extension but I can't see it working really. I put Elsie in the cat box last night to sleep and the other 4 including Dorothy crammed into the nest box to sleep, it just broke out again as soon as they came downstairs this morning. It seems the only answer is to either get an eglu for each of them, or leave them free ranging all the time. They are currently free ranging with the exeption of Elsie who is in the run not looking pleased, she is vicious though.

 

Do you think I should spray anti-peck spray on all of them?

[Plum]

What a gang, I'm sure it will get better with the extra space. Hang in there.

 

Would it be worth trying a bumper bit on the worst one and the one you put in with Dorothy?

[Ain't Nobody Here]

What a nightmare for you . It sounds like an extra eglu is a great idea - at least it's somewhere safe for Dorothy .

 

I'm wondering how long it normally takes for the pecking order to be sorted out . Once it is, you'd hope the girls would settle down and stop picking on her.

 

I've no experience of this but just want to give you some hope that it'll get better. There must be nothing worse than having all this going on . Have you done a search on the forum for "bullying"? That might give you some ideas or at least hope that it'll sort itself out.

 

Keeping chickens that get on well is just a joy and pleasure so hang on in there .

[abwsco]

Are they just in a standard cube run?

[Tweety]

In my experience, ex batts are far more aggressive to each other when it comes to sorting out the pecking order and it seems to take longer too. I think it took about 3 or 4 weeks until mine settled down, and they were in a cube with extended run plus a netted-off area - however, they were nowhere near as bad as your girls.

For the time being, I would definitely spray them with anti-peck spray/Ukadex/Stockholm Tar and get some bumpa bits. Once your eglu arrives, I would put Dorothy and maybe the next smallest/least aggressive girl in it and see how it goes. If they are ok, I would gradually introduce them to the others minus the worst bully, who you can put in the eglu. Hopefully, once peace breaks out - which it will, eventually - you can then let the bad girl rejoin the others and she will have lost her place at the top of the pecking order and should not be so aggressive.

I do hope things get better - this is a horrible experience for you. I don't know where you live mikk100, but I have loads of Ukadex and Stockholm tar if you want some.

[Matthew]

I do sympathise with you re the situation but you don't mention if you are using the anti peck spray ?

 

This should be a must have in this scenario along with the other segregation plans you have

[Hen Watch]

Hang on in there. Sounds like you are doing all you can. Keeping chickens is a real learning curve and 2.5 years later I'm still learning, I read things on this forum that I never knew before. So don't feel bad.

 

I know someone mentioned it earlier, but the purple spray is handy for your first aid kit. You may already have some, but if not, this is the stuff and you get it from horse supply shops. As it is bright purple, it covers any blood up. Chickens are drawn to the sight of red blood and will peck at it so this masks it.

 

http://www.battles.co.uk/products/002/animal-health/303/battles/-/-/2507/gentian-violet-spray/

[mikk100]

Thanks Tweety but I've already ordered some Ukadex and it should arrive this week. I've been using Johnsons anti peck spray but it has made no difference whatsoever and I think this seems to be echoed around the forum on other postings. I have noticed things calming down a little when I remove one particular hen although strangely she is kept in check by another 2 hens, this means I have the 3 muskateers who get along ok together and the 2 that are picked on (one still picks on Dorothy though), I think I'll be putting these in together and covering Dorothy with Ukadex...seems a shame for her since she's just starting to get her feathers and is pruning a lot but must be better than getting pecked at.

 

Dorothy is back sleeping with the group since I removed nasty Elsie at night times and this works ok although the minute they are let out it all starts again. I'm excited for getting the new eglu though hopefully there'll be less to worry about...

[mikk100]

got my new eglu and it has been the cause of much interest and investigation by all the hens. the 3 muskateers spent yesterday in the run of the cube quite happily and each laid an egg. Dorothy and Lena spent the day free ranging because whenever I tried to put them in their run together Lena started on Dorothy, when I went to check on them later they were both squished together in the little nest area fast asleep....very cute. It was short-lived because Lena started on her again when they were let out this morning but hopefully when my ukadex arrives I can put a stop to this.

[Plum]

Bless them, I'm sure you'll make it work

[Chook n Boo Mum]

Good luck, I'm sure it will all work out under your watchful eye

 

Sha x