mother hen Posted November 11, 2010 Share Posted November 11, 2010 My top chicken only stopped bullying the new girls as she started to moult. Probably didn't have the energy or enthusiasm for it any more ! Now the tables have turned, and the bully is being bullied ! I would have said 'serves her right' but blood has been shed on a couple of occassions and I'm sure it's bad enough going through the moult without being picked on as well! I move her to another run during the day for a bit of respite as none of the girls free range at the moment but didn't want to seperate her for too long in case we have to go through another round of establishing the pecking order once the moult is over. I have given her a quick health check and she seems generally fine. So that's the background, now all the questions. Is this bullying or re-organisation of the pecking order during a moult usual ? What's the best way to handle it ? Also, her exposed skin looks dark red/purple in places as if bruised. Is this normal ? Also, we were planning to go away for 3 days but I'm an olympic standard worrier and am concerned that if we leave her in with the other girls I'll come home to find that she's been starved or pecked to death !! Is this realistic ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skye Posted November 12, 2010 Share Posted November 12, 2010 (edited) Ahhh poor little soul, not only is she going through a moult but being picked on by the incomers too! Given that blood has been shed, I would be inclined to keep her separate for a bit while she gets her confidence back from the moult. Has she made her peace with any of your other hens? If so I'd keep her with the ones she gets on with, but separate from the bullies so she is not completely isolated. If it's practical, perhaps put them all together for just a small amount of time each day, and build it up so they can gradually start to get used to each other? If it's not practical to be moving them around during the day etc you could consider getting bumper bits on the worst offenders until it calms down? If blood is still being shed when you go away, I think it would be sensible to keep her apart from the bullies, I think. I'm sure it will calm down soon skye x Edited November 12, 2010 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skye Posted November 12, 2010 Share Posted November 12, 2010 Oh sorry forgot to say, welcome to the forum and yes I think a moult can rearrange the pecking order, our top chook was moulting when we adopted three ex batts last year and they really picked on her, whereas the others, previously lower in the pecking order, were able to stand up to them better. skye x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mother hen Posted November 14, 2010 Author Share Posted November 14, 2010 Thanks for the advice. I'm keeping her seperate for most of the day but putting them all to bed together. It does however mean getting up at the crack of dawn to let them all out, which is a challenge as I'm not naturally an early riser! I may have to rig up some form of enclosure so that they have a bit more space to wander around in whilst I'm at home and can keep an eye on them. This certainly seemed to help when I introduced the two new girls. It's so frustrating that things have only just settled down after 5 weeks of her re-enforcing her position as top chicken with the new girls. Oh well, that's the joy of having chickens - it's never boring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
