CallyChook Posted May 31, 2010 Share Posted May 31, 2010 My lovely welsummer cockerel has always had Morgana as his favourite, but in the last month he has been such a brute with her she is now almost bald. I bought her a canvas saddle from ebay but this caused more problems than it fixed - to get it tight enough to stay on, it restricted her wings and so she started pecking at it. Also when Lancey hopped up to have his fun, it tended to ride up and become more of a collar than a saddle - it ended up like the evil Queen's collar from Disney's Snow white. So this has now been chucked into the dustbin, and my poor gold laced orpington is now back to being a baldie. There's very few feather stumps left on her back and also on the tips of her wings. Poor thing. Now I'm getting worried that another few days and she'll start to be rubbed raw and start bleeding. I would isolate her but a) I dont have another coop and B) i think she'd emotionally stress at being separated from her fellow hens. Bad bad cockerel. He doesnt even have spurs to speak of, so it just seems to be his weight and feet in general Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted May 31, 2010 Share Posted May 31, 2010 You will have to remove either Lancelot or Morgana for a while I would have thought. Have they got plenty of room so that there is somewhere for her to hide? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted May 31, 2010 Share Posted May 31, 2010 I'd remove Lancelot for a while. This is pretty normal in breeding flocks, the cockerel is removed and lives on his own and if fertile eggs are needed he is reintroduced for a short period every few days but thats it, a few of my breeding groups have well behaved cockerels and immaculate females and so they are allowed to stay together Its great to have a cockerel in a pet flock but the reality is that unless you have a lot of room for them all the girls nearly always end up looking ropey and being stressed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CallyChook Posted June 2, 2010 Author Share Posted June 2, 2010 They've got plenty of space for just the four of them, almost a small field, with lots of bushes etc for Morgie to hide under if she needs a time out. Poor thing, she seems to prefer to stay close by him as if she likes the attention, it's just no good for her looks or health! I'd take Lance out but the only thing I havent got is a second coop at the moment and no money to buy one at the moment either, as I'm expecting a baby and have not only had to cut my hours down at work but also spent up on my cot for this month. Think it might end up with him having to have a cardboard box in my kitchen of a nighttime :'( Grrr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
