Unsecure chicken perches

[Duncan08]

New to chicken keeping, only a week and hooked already!

Bought 2, miss pepperpot and a gingernut ranger with our eglu, and wanted to add another pair asap before they got too settled. We tried to get 2 more the same age, but bluebell ( a bluebell believe it or not) is about six weeks younger than the others, so we were expecting a little bit of bullying.

We put the new girls in the dog crate next to the run yesterday, then popped them all in bed together last night. No problems, today vanilla (a White star) has settled in perfectly, but is the main instigator of the pick on bluebell gang. So much for sticking up for you old friends !

Bluebell is getting a few nasty pecks and was looking pretty miserable, so we moved the end panel around to the side (we have extensions) and erected a temporary mesh screen, improvised her own shelter and thought that would keep her a little more comfortable but still near the others .

The daft thing has broken through to get back to the others, even though they are so mean to her.

So, my quandary is, do I reinforce the screen for tomorrow, or just leave her to it? I have ordered so of the spray to make her taste yucky and some purple spray in case the others break the skin.

I think long term she will be ok. She is the only one who will stare the dog out, but just need to get through the next couple of weeks.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks

Sue

[Tweety]

As long as there is no blood being drawn, and you are around to keep an eye on things, I would see how it goes and separate her if necessary.

The usual advice about introductions is to take it slowly - see the FAQs about chickens - and, if it is not going well, you can always separate them and start again. As Vanilla is the baddy, you could try putting the least aggressive of your original 2 girls in with Bluebell, and then introducing 2 to 2 in due course.

[Sam]

Hi Sue

 

I'd be tempted just to leave them how they are and let them "fight" it out. There will probably be a bit of pecking but thats to be expected with introductions, but if there is blood then I would probably separate her and spray her as you've said. All being young and relatively new I would have thought they would have all settled down together! Bloomin hens Sounds like a good set up you've got there Do let us know how you get on

 

Sam

[Duncan08]

Thanks Tweety and Sam,

I am in work today and the girls are under the care of "grandma and grandad" my mum and dad who live with us.

Dad was out there yesterday keeping tabs on them and making sure Bluebell got something to eat and drink.

There isn't any blood, but the skin at the base of her tail is bald and very sore looking, so this morning I have decided to keep her separate, stuck some canes through to stop her getting underneath! When I get back from work I will pop Pepper in with her for the rest of the evening, she is a lovely bird, quite mumsy, she does join in the bullying but doesnt instigate it.

The spray should arrive tomorrow, so if I keep her separate again during part of the day then let her in with the others for the last couple of hours hopefully we can get the balance right between her getting to eat and drink and recover from the pecking to get back in with the girls slowly. I have also ordered some gentian violet so I will be able to treat her if the pecking breaks the skin.

 

The awful thing is she just looks so sad...she has had a load of cuddles, but us humans just can't make up for friendship of your own kind.

I am sure we will get there very soon.

Sam I thought they would be OK as they are all newish and young, thats why we got the other two so quickly. It is nature I suppose, even when we added fish to our tank the fish picked on each other for a bit.

Thanks again for your help

[The Dogmother]

It does take a while and the displaying is necessary for them to decide who ends up where in the pecking order. As mentioned in the FAQ topic, you should isolate any chicken which is bleeding.

[Duncan08]

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for their advice and reassurances!

 

Bluebell spent most of the day in the run but behind a mesh wall so the others couldnt get her! A very miserably girly, when I got back from work I put Pepper in with her, Pepper was as good as gold and just hoovered up the veg that Bluebell hadn't eaten, once that was gone, she got a bit itchy to get back to the others and managed to squeeze through a tiny gap under the feeder. Bluebell tried to follow, so I undid the mesh and let them all mingle. (armed with the hose).

Mingling was very good, a few little packs nothing too nasty, I put some grass sods in to amuse them, Bluebell got a go, and had a drink and something to eat from the main feeders. I think she is just desparate to be in the gang. She was even standing in the middle of all three of them with no pecks. Once they had got through the best of the grass clumps, Chillie had about three goes at her, she doesnt like the hose

I think we just need Bluebell to gain in confidence, which I think she is doing a little bit at a time, but she seems much happier this morning.

Have put her back behind the mesh today as we can't keep an eye on things, but will do a rerun this evening.

 

Meanwhile, Pepper is definitely the brains of the gang. Whilst Chilli and Vanilla are alternating between being top chicken. Pepper just bides her time and hoovers up the treats whilst they fight it out!

I was worried that I might have spoilt all the hard work of building up trust with Chilli, squirting the hose at her, instead of running to talk to me, she ran away after the first time. But a handful of mealworms soon had her eating out of my hand again

 

Thanks again Everyone, your support really is appreciated.

[Tweety]

That is good news! Bluebell will gain in confidence -after all, she is quite a lot younger than your other girls - and they will all be good friends in a couple of weeks.

I'm sure you are doing the right thing by taking it slowly and gradually, and it sounds as if putting Pepper in with her will help too. Keep up the good work!

[Duncan08]

Update!

The girls spent the day together today, at one point Vanilla had Bluebell pinned to the ground underneath the feeder, so my mum brought her in for a break and a cuddle. She said she was almost like a child holding her arms up!

Other than that though it has just been bickering with a small amount of feather pulling all round. Vanilla seems to have turned some of her attention to Pepper and Chilli and Vanilla are still fighting it out for the top spot.

They are all looking a bit raggedy at the mo

They had me in stiches this morning though, went to say good morning before I left for work and Vanilla did a quick peck at Bluebell, nothing serious, I had missed the instant second to squirt her, but did reach for the hose. Well you should have seen them, Chilli and Vanilla(who have had the most hose experiences) jumped about 6 ft in the air, shouting like mad. They definitely know what the hose is for, they were just like cartoon characters.

The problem is though, whilst it has done the trick on warning them off, it has broken down the trust and they won't come to me any more when I call them, they will eat out of my hand but won't let me pick them up. So will need to start again on those two once they all settle down.

The spray came yesterday, so I put a bit on Bluebell and Pepper who are taking the brunt of the pecking. (Couldn't get the other two to come out but they don't really need it) Chilli managed to get a taste before bedtime, pulled a face and shook her head, just like we would So maybe it will calm it down a little.

Bluebell just sat on my knee whilst I clipped her wing and sprayed her, then we just sat and I stroked her chest.

Well she was purring, thats the only way I can think of to describe the sound, and kept closing her eyes.

Someone asked me why I wanted chickens, they werent even cuddly, well Bluebell definitley proves that theory wrong!

 

So its all getting better, a few bridges to build with Chilli and Vanilla, but slowly getting there!

 

Thanks

Sue

[Plum]

Well done, sounds like you are managing really well. I found there was quite a lot of argy bargy among the old girls themselves with the last introduction I did and wasn't expecting that.