helin_pw Posted September 16, 2010 Share Posted September 16, 2010 Hello, I got three rescue hens a few months back. All has been going well but one of them has suddenly turned nasty. She's been picking on one of the other hens in particular for the last few days with increasing ferocity and has drawn blood a few times. I'd tried to leave them to it but today i had to isolate the injured hen because she started bleeding and was making a sort of crying noise while the other hen had her pinned in the corner of the coop. Any advice would be appreciated. Helin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Chick Posted September 16, 2010 Share Posted September 16, 2010 I would treat your injured hen with vet wound powder, and spray her with violet spray. when you are confident that she is OK, I would return her to the non bullying girl and separate the bully for a few days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandyhas3chucks Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 I would treat your injured hen with vet wound powder, and spray her with violet spray. when you are confident that she is OK, I would return her to the non bullying girl and separate the bully for a few days. Agree Also feed the injured girl up, to regain her strength, she probably has not been allowed to eat much recently or relax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
staceychristie Posted September 18, 2010 Share Posted September 18, 2010 Isolate the bullied hen, and feed her up, keep her warm and dry, and treat as above with vets wound powder. Hens LOVE blood, and are fascinated by it. You MUST stop the pecking/bleeding cycle. Have you tried a poultry saddle to protect her back? Good luck Stacey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 Yes, target the bully not the bullied. Isolating her for a few days will being her down the pecking order and you should restore calm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 I'd do as Debs suggests above, and fit a bumper bit on the bully when you put her back in. That ought to stop it. Interestingly, have you given the bully a check over? Animals in pain often act in that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandyhas3chucks Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 Can we just explore all possibilities 1st before the route of bumper bits. These are rescue hens after all and have gone through a lot already. Firstly 3 hens. leaving one with one IF one has wounds still will result in one attacking the bleeding hen. !! First the wounds need to be healed THEN separate the bully. 2ndly are they in a standard Eglu & Run ? If so, how many feeding stations are in there.? At this point in time one each chook would be best. Small cheap D cups are very good for this. What have you got in the run for them to do? If it is a bare run then there is no where to hide or get out of the way.... Enough questions for now, there will be lots of suggstions depending on the answers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helin_pw Posted September 21, 2010 Author Share Posted September 21, 2010 Thank you for all the replies. The girls are normally in a standard eglu and 2m run but I quickly put together a seperate run over the weekend and put Agatha (the injured chicken) in there during the day, so she's had a few days of relative peace and quiet and full access to food. Dorcus (who is the bully) is now in the seperate run, out of the three she's in the best health with pretty much all her feathers having grown back. So we'll see if a couple of days of some time out calms her down. I have various 'treats' hung up in the run but they don't take much interest. I recently put wood chips in from the local tree surgeons which they love checking for bugs and stuff. I just have the standard eglu feeders in there at the moment so i'll get some extras in there and see if that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pikey Posted September 21, 2010 Share Posted September 21, 2010 Just to add when putting them all back together I found the best method was to let them free range all together so plenty of space and things to do.......also found later afternoon the best Ex-batts are always the most vicious guess due to their beginnings. Good luck and hopefully things will sort themselves out soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandyhas3chucks Posted September 21, 2010 Share Posted September 21, 2010 here is a photo showing the storage box and one in the garden run, perhaps something could be adapted for the Eglu run, this trellis was so so useful in making a mental barrier when I had my one being bullied Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandyhas3chucks Posted September 21, 2010 Share Posted September 21, 2010 Just to say the Eglu one was taken while it was not in use, there is usually some fresh turf in the front where slabs can be seen, and the 2nd one is on grass when free ranging is not possible and no coop needed. nest box is put in if needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miss_spent Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 My Cilla and Audrey doing a grand job of modelling!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plum Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 Sorry what do you mean? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandyhas3chucks Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 Cilla and Audrey are the 2 chooks in the garden run (they were "holidaying" with me) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plum Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 Ah. nice chooks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miss_spent Posted October 8, 2010 Share Posted October 8, 2010 Ah. nice chooks Thanks! 2 of Omlet's finest! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
