Janepie33 Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 Do chickens actually kill each other when establishing a new pecking order? After 2 weeks of complicated to-ing and fro-ing with day and night time arrangements, our new girl is still being brutally attacked by the youngest 2 of the flock. They gang up on her, pin her in a corner and peck and peck and peck. Today there was blood shed for the first time - they managed to get hold of her comb. Despite the bullying, Ginny is still managing to lay the odd egg. I think she thinks I am her mummy as she follows me about and tries to hide under my dressing gown first thing in the morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkBevBen Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 Oh poor Ginny but hopefully she's okay as she's still laying eggs for you? The others sound like they've been terribly nasty to her, hope things will calm down soon for all of you. We've recently had some introductions as well - two new girls (Hilda and Elsie) and one existing (Dottie ). The new girls were both from different runs at the place we got them from, so the thinking was they were all going to be starting something new. There was a bit of fisticuffs between Dottie and Elsie, but when I tried to seperate them with a bamboo baricade in their run, they decided they all love each other dearly and wanted to be together! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkBevBen Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 Just noticed your names in your signature We originally had Cottie, because we got the Eglu and girls for our second wedding anniversary and as cotton is traditional that's how we got to Cottie. Then Dottie and Lottie rhymed nicely with Cottie Sadly Cottie and Lottie are no longer with us but hope they'll be playing peacefully in that nice dust bath in the sky xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madchickenlady Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 They can kill each other, sadly. It might be an idea to remove the main bully for a couple of days, to give everyone a chance to calm down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 They can occasionally fight to the death, although it is pretty unusual. Normally one will admit defeat and accept a lower place in the pecking order. I'd separate one of the bullying tow and see how she gets on with the other one, and then in a day or two, swap' em over. Divide and conquer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
