Smart Feeder - Light sensor values

[JM]

Hi

 

One of my chooks (Winnie) is being pecked by the other 2 - not all the time, but they seem to chase her away from the grubs etc. It doesn't seem to be particularly viscious, but seems to be them trying to keep her in her place. She has taken to running away from them when they come up to her quickly, and she goes and feeds when they are elsewhere! Could it be that the others don't recognise her (she looks very patchworky as her feathers are growing back), or do they just realise she's not very strong? ... I've kept them all together during the cold weather so that she wasn't picked on, but I'm wondering if I should separate her from the others.

 

She's always been a really happy chook, in the middle of the pecking order, but over the past couple of months she's been through it a bit - she was attacked by a dog and had her tail feathers pulled out, then she's got a lump in her abdomen and had quite a few vet visits, then she had a full moult right before the cold weather... Her comb and wattles are pale, but she's eating well and scratching etc, but not as quickly as she did before. She's 2.5 years old now, so I guess she's getting old for a Gingernut ranger.

 

Thanks - Jill

[Egluntyne]

She will have lost her place in the pecking order because of the moult, and presumably she will have gone off lay. So long as no blood is drawn and she is managing to snatch a bite to eat, I'd leave her with them.

[percy049]

our chickens used to get on all happily. 1 of them then had a moult first, and from then on shes being bullied a bit, usually around food, by the smallest one!

[JM]

Wow that was quick! Thanks for the advice - that's good to know.

 

I am just feeling really sorry for her because she's been through it a bit! I changed their outer run area at the weekend, so they've got the whole of the veggy garden to roam in now, and she's got lots of opportunity to keep clear of the others.

 

She keeps looking wistfully at the shed, where they stayed during the really cold snap... she's definitely not daft that one!

 

Thanks

 

Jill

[percy049]

i forgot to say - the one that is now being bullied a bit did go to the vets... maybe the chickens smell something and instantly take a dislike to them!?

[JM]

They were OK with her after the vet visits - it's been more since she started the moult. (It's just as well they don't use mirrors, because she did look odd)