Is your dog's unusual barking a secret code for something mysterious?

[millymollymandy]

I have had different chickens over the last few years but feel I am failing with my current ones. I have five chooks in a cube with two extensions. I have two healthy looking chickens who are obviously top of the pecking order, two with bare bums and one scrawny runt who I am feeling very sorry for as she gets constantly bullied and picked on and think I might be better rehoming her. The first chickens I had were treasured pets and I grew very attached to them and was very sad when they died. These new chickens I have really not got that attached too and they are not as friendly as my original omlet chooks, I don't know whether it is because they are fancier breeds but they just don't give me as much joy and they don't look as happy. I try to let them out to free range when I can but also try to have a useable garden. My other half suggested I just rehome all five and then start again with three or four classic brown hens but that feels like giving up . Should I persevere or admit failure and start again? Has anyone else had dark thoughts like me?!

[Plum]

What a shame, I do agree the hybrids are friendlier and but now we are getting longer evenings you'll find you get to know the others better and they'll get tame if you keep contact with them.

 

Poor little bullied one, perhaps they are overcrowded so you may be better rehoming her. Try extra perches and obstacles though to give her some protection. It's hard to love them when they are bullying each other

 

It doesn't mean you are failing them, they are just different and probably quite young still and as you know when they are crouching and laying you can get closer.

[KimmyCustard]

Can you separate the bullying two in together? Even if its for a bit, it would give time for the other three to gang up and maybe take the other two down a peg or two when they are put back together. I have two with baldy bums and have just brushed some soap over their nether regions to stop further pecking - we will see!

[Olly]

Five hens in a Cube with two extensions should have plenty of space. Unfortunately, sometimes this isn't enough to stop feather-pecking. One of mine is permanently bald on the bum - she is never bleeding, and doesn't seem that subdued, and I have just reluctantly accepted that she's always going to be bottom of the pecking order until such time as there's a vacancy further up. She is last to feed, and often gets told off by the other hens and chased out of the way, but she is otherwise healthy, lays well and I think it's just the nature of things. I'm afraid starting with new hens could just bring you the same problems.

 

I would add some branches if you can - or any kind of perch - to give them some more interest in the run, and to allow the baldy one to get away sometimes.

 

However, you don't sound as if you are enjoying your hens much. I really get more pleasure out of mine when I see them free-ranging, although it's only ever for an hour or two under supervision. Could you separate a bit of garden for them? Maybe not the same bit all the time, but using Omlet netting you could give them an area that changes every so often - that way they will not do too much damage in one go.

 

I have never encouraged 'cuddly' hens, I don't want them jumping on me when I'm in the garden having a cuppa! however I've been training mine to eat out of my hand recently, and it does make them more fun and enables me to check them over more easily. Don't feel disheartened - you need to revive your love affair with your hens, the spark is obviously still there!

[Duncan08]

I have five girls, 2 original Omlet girls, 1 Bluebell, and in January added an Araucana and a Vorwerk to the mix.

They all have very distinct personalities and it is dificult not to have "favourites".

My Vorwerk is still the baby and is forever being shooed out of the way if they are eating or even if she just looks to comfortable by the others, I am not sure removing her would be the answer though long term. To give her a break I take her out sometimes for a little roam about and to make sure she gets a few treats to herself. The others then just pick on the Araucana. I think unless you just keep two there will always have to be one at the bottom.

 

I too am not overly cuddly with them, I don't believe that they do particularly enjoy it. They are all very sociable though, and will come running to see us, mainly because they think we have food, I know it isn't out of love A couple of them are nosey and come and have a look at what I am doing, one is very skittish and won't come anywhere near. I have found that the bullied one is usually the happiest to get out for a cuddle and a stroke, and once the bullying stops they don't want to know you anymore

 

You aren't failing your chooks, you are still only just getting to know them, how long have you had them? The dark nights have meant that I havent got to spend as much time with the new girls as I had with the old, they only just started to eat out of my hand last weekend. It is hard to not compare when you get "replacements" and if you replaced these girls you would probably still find the same problem. I would tend to give it a little more time yet now the weather is brighter and you can spend more time with them.

Good Luck

[chateau eglu]

Hi all, I'm afraid I have felt like that and I've only had my girl's for 2 weeks. I have been looking forward to getting my hens for so long, but wonder if I have made a mistake. I have read about the pecking order and knew it could be hard but I wasn't prepared for how cruel they can be to each other. One particular hen is being picked on by both of them, and I felt so helpless just standing there, at one point I took her out completely and now every time I open the back of the eglu she's waiting for me to pick her up. I have considered re-homing the other two but I have read you shouldn't keep a lone hen. I'm hoping that in time things will improve and I will change the way I feel at the moment. But I do feel guilty as they are ex batts and have been through so much already.

[Olly]

Unfortunately, hens are not the kind, friendly creatures we would like them to be! When we see a hen being picked on, pecked, shoved out of the way of the others, chased etc it's hard not to see it from our own perspective; if that was a child in the school playground, it would be heartbreaking. It's really important at this point to remember however that they are not like us - they are flock animals, and the safety and wellbeing of the flock depends on there being a distinct order. The boss chicken - it would be a cockerel in a mixed flock - runs the show, and keeps the other hens in their place, but he (or she) also warns of danger, makes sure they are all in bed at night, and looks for sources of food. The bottom chicken in this situation doesn't feel sad and unloved - she feels safe because she knows she has a place in the flock.

 

Of course if there are injuries being inflicted, then you need to act swiftly, but in most cases it's just pecking and (sometimes) feather plucking. You can fit a bumper bit, but my personal feeling is that it's best not to interfere in the dynamics of the group but to let them get on with it. They will usually settle down within a few weeks, and you'll see them freeranging peaceably together; 'lowest' chicken will still get a peck to remind her where she is, but it isn't upsetting her as it would you or me. The dynamic will change from time to time, as hens stop laying/come into lay/are replaced.

 

Chateau eglu (welcome to the forum, by the way!) don't give up - you may have to adjust your expectations of how they behave, but hens will bring you so much pleasure and enjoyment. Battery hens have usually not been able to socialise in a flock, so it will take a while for their instincts to resurface.

[Mrs Potts]

Hello!

 

I can only speak from ex-battery experience.

 

Our first batch of ex battery hens were so painful to watch for the first few weeks that OH considered buying another Classic and having two lots of two! As everyone says, it will be all right, providing they have enough room and enough interest - so two feeding stations if you can, a branch or a perch to sit on (hide under) and then maybe some different times of free ranging so you can ensure that you assist your picked on hen with treats (trust me, they know you will). Lighter evenings mean this is a good time of year to familiarize yourself with them if you have time to free range them in the garden - even 20 minutes will help. I always chat to mine for a few minutes in the morning too.

 

It does work and the situation should improve. After about three weeks, there was no more pecking, everything settled and they became the friendliest group - to us as well as to each other.

 

Good luck and I hope you don't give up. I am glad we didn't give up and didn't split the flock.

[millymollymandy]

Thanks for the advice the lighter evening will make a difference as in the winter I rush out in the morning cos I'm always late for work and they were always asleep when I got back. I know removing the picked on chook won't stop the others pecking each other but the others are so mean I am scared they might actually do her serious harm. When I let them out the other day the first thing the bully did was jump on her back I thought she was going to finish her

I have two grubs and branches in the run but think I will try to put more perches in to keep them amused.

I think I will try to find my bullied chook a new home, there is a rescue place near me where the chickens have the run of the farm yard and field and think she would be better there as even if she is picked on it is easier to get away.

[chateau eglu]

Hello all, thank you for your good advice and encouragement. I feel much happier now, as you say they aren't like any other pets and I think their behaviour takes some getting used to. I have let them free range under supervision, they have gone through one flower bed like a demolition crew! My husand has sectioned off their own space which has a big bed of compost. They are so gentle and knowing and I can't help but think of the terror they must have experienced in the conditions they were kept. I will give them lots of love and care for the time I have them.

 

Thanks again, I'm sure I will be back on here very soon with more questions.

 

Bye for now.