Chicken bald back

[mullethunter]

I'm not silly enough to think things are all sorted, but my 4 have been FRing together all day today and the Pekins have hardly been chased or spent any time hiding on top of things at all. I thought it had been ominously quiet out there for a while so I just looked out to see all 4 of then milling about together having a clean up The Pekins will be 21 weeks old this week, does anyone think it's time to take down the partition in the Eglu Go run yet so they're together in there, or should I give it a few more weeks?

[sjp]

give it a bit longer if it's their first time out together but if they all go in together of their own doing then I'd let them be. I do find with my lot the older ones behave for a few weeks then start to throw their weight about at feeding time and bed time but then it settles down to the normal head butt to remind the younger ones who's in charge not that the one doing the head butting is in charge

[mullethunter]

They've been out together on and off since I got them all 10 weeks ago but most of the time up until worming week last week I had to either closely supervise or put half of them in a pen within their FR area. And you're so right! It's second in command doing headbutting not chicken in charge!

[sjp]

the question now then is are you ready to put the together ? if yes then go for it put the all in the same coop after dark the let them out in the morning and as long as no blood is drawn leave them to it.

[mullethunter]

I'll try it Sunday night because I'll be here during the day on Monday so I can monitor from the upstairs window!

[Chickabee]

I would deffo say go for it. I've always been a bit brave with my intros. Not had anything I can't deal with so far, fingers crossed, think you have to ignore a lot of the squabbling. Good luck

[Luvachicken]

I'm so glad things are going well for your little pekins.

Do let us know how they get on tonight and tomorrow

[mullethunter]

FIRST HOUR UPDATE - I got home too late last night to put the Pekins in with the big girls (and knew I wouldn't want to get up early to let them out!), so they slept as normal with the Wyandottes in the Eglu and Pekins in their cat box. When I let them out this morning I let the pekins out first, let them have a drink and some pellets, the removed the dividing 'wall'. The pekins were right outside the Eglu door when the big girls came out. At first they ignored them and barged straight past to the little girls normal end to eat from their feeder. So far it's not been too awful. There have been a few pecks but only to the body, mostly the Pekins just seem confused. They are playing statues a lot. The main problem is that although I have two feeders, one is a grub which the Pekins struggle to reach into, so they keep trying to go back to their own feeder but the big girls won't let them at the moment. Anyway - will try my hardest not to intervene as long as nothing really nasty happens. Looks like it's preening time now which is usually reasonably harmonious. I'll keep the updates coming - let me know if you get bored!

[Cat tails]

My girls didn't manage to feed from the Grub when they were still little. I put a brick in front of it, for them to stand on while feeding. Worked fine for them.

 

Not getting bored yet! Keep it coming!

[mullethunter]

DAY 1 - I'm doing my day 1 update now as they're out of confinement FRing ing the garden together which they've done for some time (Penny is currently telling the whole estate that she's laid an egg!). This morning didn't go as well as I'd hoped it might, but nor was it as bad as I'd feared it could be. After the last update, their was a fair bit of running and pecking at the Pekins from Amy, and even Penny did join in a bit, so the Pekins spent a lot of the morning on top of their cat box or on one of the two perches that's in the run. I don't think they ate as much as they usually would. But, i didn't see any nasty attacks and the littl'uns seemed well able to get out of the way, so apart from the fact that they had a rubbish morning and I felt horrible no real damage was done. I'll stick with it and see how we go.

 

Cat tails that brick is a good idea - I've used a big bit of wood that I had Penny's broody cage on so hopefully they'll be able to reach now.

 

I plan to let them all put themselves to bed tonight, but leave the cat box in the run so the Pekins can still go in there if they want. Do you think that's a good idea or should I make them go in the Eglu now?

[LunaKiw1]

sounds like slow and steady is working so I'd not push the pace for now. The brick idea was a good tip - that's what's so great about this forum isn't it? Other people come up with such reassurance and simple ideas to sort almost every problem! Hope it continues to go well and I don't think anyone is bored yet with your updates!

[Cat tails]

Have to admit that I got the brick idea from the place where I got the chickens. The lady there gave it as a tip, because they were still rather small. But it worked like a charm.

Now they are big enough to eat straight from the grub.

[mullethunter]

You're right LunaKiwi it's brilliant.

 

DAY 2 - popped home on the way to work after having my hair cut (not just to see the girls obviously - I'm sure there was another reason too!) and all seems calm at the moment. Big girls sleepily preening and little girls pottering around their original end. Their first day without me here to keep an eye out - fingers crossed

[mullethunter]

END OF DAY 2 - I don't know how they got on during the day, but when I got home and let them out at half 4 the Pekins instantly leapt onto me. I checked them over and they have no sign if injury so I guess nothing too bad can have happened. They stayed near me whilst I cleaned out the houses and run but weren't desperate to eat pellets so I assume they'd been able to eat what they wanted during the day. They only had an hour and a half to FR today but all four seemed to be getting on ok outside with no real bullying. I put them all back in just after 6 (bribed with corn) and left them all pecking up their mixed corn. When I got home at half 8 they'd all put themselves to their respective beds.

 

So far so good but I still feel like I'm making the pekins lives a misery

[sjp]

sounds ok for 2 days it'll take around 6 -9 weeks for them to become a flock or at for you to realise they've become a flock well that how long it took me with me first intros I find week 3 or 4 can be a trouble spot when one of the older girls take offence to the younger ones sharing her bedroom but it settles down after a few days

[mullethunter]

Do you think it'll be that long even though they've lived next to each other and done some free ranging together for a couple of months?

[mollyripkim]

Love reading your updates and seeing how they are getting on. I am FRing my 13 week bantams with the older girls for an hour each day, only the bottom girl of the older ones gives chase and pecks but nothing serious. They are in a big run with an end each so can see each other like yours.

I am gauging how long it's going to take by your experiences.

[sjp]

Do you think it'll be that long even though they've lived next to each other and done some free ranging together for a couple of months?

I base it on how long my intros take with growers/pol that have been FR with the mob since they were a few days old it seems to be the same with older girls to if I move them in with one of the other groups it most be about how long it takes for them to imprint on each other they seem to learn were food is first then home then their place in the pecking order and finally make a friend or 2

[mullethunter]

DAY 3 - I was at work for quite a long day today - didn't get home to let the girls out until about quarter to six. Judging by where the poo was, I'd say it looks like they'd spent pretty much the whole day sitting on top of their cat box. They seemed a bit more subdued than normal when I let them out, but they did do a bit of foraging around the garden and followed me around as usual when I went out to clean the houses out. I think there's less chasing and pecking while they're free ranging than there used to be, but that may be just because the little girls now tend to run away whenever Amy looks at them. Bedtime didn't go as well as usual. Normally the little girls put themselves to bed in their cat box at about 8 o clock, then half an hour later the big girls go to bed. Last night though the big girls were hanging around the run door and the Pekins obviously didn't want to go past them. Bernadette flew over the fence onto the patio, which prompted Shelley to attempt to fly from their garden chair to the 6 foot high back fence . That turned out to be over ambitious and she landed in a heap behind the Eglu . Eventually the little girls decided to roost on top of the Eglu (on the coldest night of the year so far), so when the big girls had gone to bed I went out and put them in their cat box (they were very cute because they were sleepy). Hopefully this problem will be stopped soon because I've just got an extra door for the run.

 

I'm finding this very stressful and although I love the Wyandottes and they're the only ones laying so far I do keep thinking how much better life would be for the Pekins if I only had them.

 

Mollyripkim - I think mine may be particularly difficult because there is a size AND an age difference.

 

SJP - thankyou for the info - there is hope then that it will get better!

[sjp]

once they start laying their confidence should build as it must trigger something inside them that makes them feel more grown up

other than that it all sound like normal behaviour the youngsters seem to now who to avoid so that's good no blood is been drawn

have you figured out when you are going to move them it to the big girls bedroom yet?

[mullethunter]

DAY 4 - I went to watch the Red Arrows this evening so OH had chicken keeping responsibilities! He said he didn't see any bullying whilst the girls were free ranging, so I think you're right SJP they're learning when to avoid! AND the pekins put themselves to bed On the downside, again the poo on the cat box suggests they spent most of the day hiding up there. I think things are probably going as well as I hoped and really expected so far.

 

have you figured out when you are going to move them it to the big girls bedroom yet?

 

No - I'm too scared! I think I'm going to give it at least another week.

[mullethunter]

DAY 6 - not much to report. Things seem to have settled into a bit of a routine. I let the Pekins out 10 mins earlier than the Wyandottes to make sure they can have some breakfast in peace, then I think they spend most of their shut in time either on top of their cat box or the highest perch keeping out of the big girls way. When they're out FRing they all seem to get on better than they used to. I looked out at lunch time and they were all sunbathing together. They all put themselves to bed again ok (at about 8 o clock).

 

I'm going to leave them in the run whilst I can watch them for a few hours tomorrow to see if the Pekins really do spend the whole time hiding - I'm hoping not.

[mullethunter]

DAY 7 - this is going to be the last one of the regular posts because very little is changing now. I didn't get to watch them in the run for long today after all because I had to let them out quite early this morning so I could get in and put the extra run door on (which meant I had to move everything around inside the run).

 

How they all get on together FRing has come on massively in the last 3 weeks. Before worming if I didn't put the Pekins in their 'fruit cage' they'd be bullied so badly they spent the whole time on top of the Eglu/run, now there's hardly any bullying at all and the 4 of them actually spend a lot of time together. Hopefully this I'd how things'll go when they're shut in the run soon.

 

I hope everyone's found it interesting, I'll post on this thread again when I get brave enough to put the Pekins in the Eglu with the Wyandottes at night!

[LunaKiw1]

Glad it has all gone so well and yes, I am sure lots of us have found your thread and regular updates interesting. It's always nice to hear when things goes well and even better to read of when small problems occurred but been overcome as I for one feel I'll never stop learning about looking after my girls.

[mullethunter]

DAY 12 - I couldn't see any of the girls so assumed that they were all in the 'shower curtain' end of the run that I couldn't see with the big girls scratching and the littl'uns huddled on their perch. I sneaked out to see and I was wrong - all four of them are dust bathing together