Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[millymeerkat]

I have already posted the message below on the topic 'New Skylines - HELP', but need as many people to see this as possible, so forgive me for posting it again under a new header.

 

Your help will be much appreciated. Thank you.

 

Hello Everyone,

 

Well, the Cube arrived yesterday and we are very happy with it. All four girls slept in there last night and we let them into the Cube run as a group this morning.

 

What has distressed us beyond belief is that in a matter of about 5 mins, Bettie & Ethel (two older hens) have not only ripped the feathers out of Beryl's neck and made it raw, they have pecked a small hole in her neck and hurt her eyes.

 

Audrey was hiding in the Cube itself so has not got hurt like Beryl.

 

We have sperated them now and Bettie and Ethel are in the old Eglu.

 

I climbed in the Cube run and cuddled Beryl and dabbed warm water and tea tree oil onto the wound, but it's pretty nasty.

 

We've seen her have a drink and eat some pellets and she is now sat down, huddled together with Audrey.

 

We are going to keep the two new girls seperate from the others until Beryl is healed, but we cannot see a solution to this. I have cancelled my reservations for the other hens I was meant to be getting in September and feel like going back to having just two hens right now. Obviously, all I really want is for these four to be friends, but I just don't know how that's ever going to happen.

 

Can anyone help...

 

IS THERE ANYONE LIVING IN KENT OR NEAR TO KENT THAT WOULD MIND HELPING US FIT BUMPER BITS TO THE OLDER HENS? (There'd be a cuppa tea and some cake in it for you) We haven't bought them yet, but will do if someone can help us fit them (We have no confidence left at all after this)

 

IS THERE ANYONE WHO WOULD MIND POPPING OVER ONE WEEKEND WHEN WE DECIDE TO HAVE ANOTHER GO TO HELP US WITH THE INTERGRATION? (Maybe there's someone out there who has much more experience than us who will be able to tell us a bit more about their behaviour and support us when they are fighting...)

 

I love all four girls and I know there'll be people who will say that 'it's only been 8 days' and we're bad for giving up on them (which we haven't really) but we can't see a way out...

 

Please help

[Sarah 2]

Oh you poor thing. What a horrible experience for you.

 

The only thing I could do is send you some bumper bits which I haven't had to use yet. And I can give you the instructions they came with. But I live to far away for cake and tea.

 

So if you are interested then PM your address.

[Snowy]

Oh no, you poor things! I am nowhere near you unfortunately, but please don't lose confidence. You have done everything right - it is quite uncommon for one to be so badly pecked, but it does happen. NOT your fault! The main thing is that you have caught it before too much damage was done and seperated them. It sounds like bumper bits will be a solution for you. Also, it does seem that it is harder to integrate them (but not impossible) when the hens are older, I know my oldest ones can be quite nasty still, even now they all appear to get along well together. (((hugs))) hope someone will be able to help soon.

[millymeerkat]

Thank you so much. If there is someone who is able to help us, then yes, I would be very grateful for them. Maybe I can give it a couple of hours and see if anyone is able to help us.

 

We are so upset at what has happened, I feel sick and am shaking.

 

I never expected it to be this bad and I regret to say that we are even thinking about having to say goodbye to one pair of hens. I don't want to, but I need some help in seeing a way out of this.

 

Sorry to be so dramatic, but I am just so upset.

[millymeerkat]

Thanks Snowy - sorry, your message must've appeared whilst I was typing the my reply.

 

Our other hens arrived with us in April at POL so they are not that old. The Skyline are POL at the mo, although haven't started.

 

I cannot believe the violence between them. The Skylines are trying to keep out of their way but yet the older ones are just going for them regardless. I know they've got to sort out the pecking order, but this seems way over the top...

 

Thanks for your concern.

[theherd123]

Oh Milly you have been through the ringer havent you!

 

You have done the best thing possible by separating them and you have dealt with the wounds Beryl has really well - just keep an eye on them and make sure they dont get infected.

Some Rescue Remedy in the water will do them good too - calm their nerves and settle them a little. I would give them some comfort food too - layers mash porridge with fruit & corn

 

As for the bumper bits, im afraid i live too far away too but there is a thread about bumper bits here - http://club.omlet.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3301&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

If you look on page 4 there are some pictures of my girls wearing them so that should give you a clearer idea of how they fit on.

 

When you next introduce the girls i would go for a very slow introduction (with bumper bits, anti-peck spray & purple spray on any bald bits) - let them free range together for a short period of time and gradually increase this over a week or so until you feel they would be ok in the run together.

There is a 'sticky' on introducing new hens so i would take a look there too.

 

Im sure Beryl will recover quickly - do let us know how she gets along.

 

I know its hard as you love all your chooks and its so difficult to watch your girls going at one another tooth & nail but it is natural for them to do this

Whatever you do dont think its your fault - its not!

Using the bumper bits will help a LOT!

[Egluntyne]

I'd put two in the Eglu and have it adjacent to the Cube and let them get used to the sight and sound of eachother.

 

Put them close, but leave enough room that you can sprinkle a few treats every day in an area that they can all reach so that they get used to sharing food etc.

 

Let the two babes recover and grow a bit and when you are able to supervise, let them free range together.

 

It is grim, but it will get better.

[feemcg]

I had a bit of bullying at first too, though not as bad as yours - it really is horrible to watch. If you have a dog crate or pet carrier I would suggest taking out one of the older hens and putting them in the 'dog-house' for a few hours. It would let the young ones mix with the other older hen, who might not bully if she's on her own. Repeat this every day and eventually the 'dynamics' of the group changes.

I did this for about 4 days and it sorted things out. Good luck.

[redfrock]

Hey Milly

kent is a big place - where abouts are you? I am more than willing to come and give you a hand with anything if you are within an hour of me (sorry that sounds awful ). I don't know if I shall be much good but I'll try and help all I can.

 

We integrated ours as follows: new girls in new eglu with run attached. Older girls in permanent run & eglu. kept side by side for a week & alternated who was free ranging so that they got to be nosey at each other 'behind bars'. Then we free ranged them together for a week and at night put them in sperate eglus. Week three we put them all together. The one thing we did find was that as soon as our big bully Carmen came into lay she softenend up a bit. Now we have no problems at all - and whereas for a while they free ranged as 2 groups of 4 they are now a real pick 'n' mix. We were very lucky though - although there was bullying, there was never any blood drawn.

[Tweety]

Poor you - I know exactly how you are feeling. I had quite a few problems introducing 2 new girls to my original 4, though nothing like as bad as yours, and I felt sure that they would never settle down and live happily together. I felt very guilty about getting the new chooks and upsetting the status quo, but after about 2 weeks they suddenly seemed to settle down and are all fine now.

Don't give up - they will get used to each other. It is just so horrible getting to that point.

Good luck.

[Ladylucan]

Hiya, I am too in Kent, where abouts are you?, I would willingly come over and give you a hand, but i havent got the faintest idea about bumper bits,

 

If you still want some help though just give me a shout and i will jump straight in the car

[redfrock]

Hiya, I am too in Kent, where abouts are you?, I would willingly come over and give you a hand, but i havent got the faintest idea about bumper bits,

 

If you still want some help though just give me a shout and i will jump straight in the car

 

Hey Tracy - we could help together - blind leading the blind kinda thing 2 pairs of hands and one brain (ie. yours - I don't have one) must be better than a single set

[millymeerkat]

Thanks to you all for offering to help.

 

We live in Edenbridge (TN8) and would not dream of asking anyone to pop over unless you were sort of 20mins away or something.

 

A very kind lady called Sarah has offered to send us some bumper bits and says she is doing that now, so hopefully we should get them in a few days time.

 

We are nervous about fitting them as we don't want to distress the girls as this is already an emotional situation for us and them, but wouldn't ask anyone to travel far...

[redfrock]

Thanks to you all for offering to help.

 

We live in Edenbridge (TN8) and would not dream of asking anyone to pop over unless you were sort of 20mins away or something.

 

A very kind lady called Sarah has offered to send us some bumper bits and says she is doing that now, so hopefully we should get them in a few days time.

 

We are nervous about fitting them as we don't want to distress the girls as this is already an emotional situation for us and them, but wouldn't ask anyone to travel far...

 

we wouldn't offer if we didn't mean it I am about 70 miles away - that's manageable. If I can be of any help just shout

[Ladylucan]

Claire I was hoping you would have one as mine is shot to bits

 

But that is a great idea, Millymeerkat just give us a shout and we will both be there, we could be the ones making the tea, but we will do our best to do what ever we can x

[millymeerkat]

That's very kind of you, but I couldn't ask you to do that. That's a long way. I found someone on here who asked for help fitting bumper bits in back in May who asked for help in the 'Sevenoaks/Edenbridge' area so I am going to PM her now and see if she is able to help...

 

That's not to say that we are not grateful for your offer, it's so kind.

 

We just feel like we need someone to hold our hands as this has knocked us for six.

[Ladylucan]

Ok, just remember the offer is there if you still want some help. xx

[millymeerkat]

HUGE thanks for that.

 

I have just PM'd 'chickie1' to see if they can help.

 

My husband and I are just feeling a bit low as we have quite a few other bad things going on in life and we got the chickens to cheer us up and take us away from it all - we never expected for all this and now we feel worse!

 

When it rains, it pours!

 

We may have to ask for your help if we don't have success ourselves, but we may as well have a go before dragging you over here. I promise I would get you some lovely biccies and a nice cuppa!

 

I am obviously leaving the subject open in case anyone else pops up who is more local and hopefully the bumper bits will arrive mid-week and we'll get a chance to have a go before the weekend, but if that doesn't work, I'll PM you both if that's okay.

 

I realsie we'll have to wait a while for Beryl to heal up nicely before attempting to put them together again and it just feels like this is really going to drag out which is a bit of a bummer right now.

 

If we fit the bumper bits okay, then we may still feel like we need some moral support for introducing them (we couldn't decide what was just 'pecking order pecking' or too much - we weren't sure if we should intervine) and it'd be great to have someone with us who had experience.

 

We'll keep in touch.

 

To anyone else reading, please add a comment if you can help!

 

Thanks to everyone for your support x

[Egluntyne]

Your vet will be able to fit the bumper bits, but you will have to pay.

 

There is a "Sticky" on the subject ...here.... you might feel brave enough to tackle the job yourselves when you have read it through.

 

Best of luck.

[Ladylucan]

Thats fine hun, no problems, you know where we are if you want us xx

 

Good Luck xx

[Flo]

Hi

 

We live in Maidstone and have a couple bumper bits - we have had a similar problem with our girls. Mabel quite badly pecked lucy to the point we took her to the vet. We were really starting to despair until our bumper bit arrived yesterday. We popped it on her, not as hard as we had thought and she was instantly much better.

 

I am in Ipswich until this evening but I can come over tomorrow with the bits if that would help?

 

Flo and George

[Gallina]

Putting on a bumper bit is very easy. It helps if you are not feeling too pleased with the hen concerned, because you have to hold her very tight and force it on (remembering that her nose doesn't hurt like ours, because it is made of bone). Getting the bit in the mouth is easy: getting the prongs in the nostrils is slightly fiddly but not at all difficult. They work immediately and there will be no more injuries.

 

Introducing young hens to full-grown ones is very tricky. I was shocked at how evil mine were to the babies, who hardly posed a threat.

[redfrock]

well the offer is there if you need it, and please don't feel bad / guilty etc about anything

 

Why don't you come to the get together at Leeds Castle on Sept 16th? Sounds like we could all do with a bit of fun and laughter at the mo and it looks like this will be the place to have it

[chelsea]

just caught up with this thread, hope you are all sorted now

 

I was just thinking how nice that everyone here is so friendly and willing to offer you advice.

 

What a great forum, and great people.

 

good luck with the bumper bit, im sure it will all be fine soon

[millymeerkat]

Absolutely! Everyone has been wonderful at giving us the support we so badly needed.

 

Just to update:

 

Beryl is doing so much better. The redness has gone from the wound and she is not looking so sorry for herself. She has had some food (layers and grapes) and water and has even been indulging in some scratching and dust-bathing (although I am not sure how good that is for her neck!) so she is behaving more 'chickeny'(!!!) which is wonderful to see after a really rough day of it yesterday.

 

I have to say a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who offered to come over and help us too - we were overwhelmed at the kindness of you all and how sweet it was for everyone to be so concerned.

 

We were so lucky as today a lovely, totally fab couple, George and Flo, popped over to offer us some support and we feel so much better and confident that this will all be resolved soon. They really did save us! I felt so guilty as I had bought lots of biscuits especially and they were so nice and chatty that I totally forgot to offer them the biscuits

 

Although this is not the end of the problem, the end seems in sight...

 

Thanks again for helping us to realise this is normal and that it was not our fault as that was a big concern for us. The guilt has passed and things are looking rosey again!

 

We love you fellow Omleteers!!!

 

Big Hugs, Milly & Al

 

PS: I'll be able to change my 'signature' now as I am positive that they will all live happily ever after!!! Wahoo!!!