Solving Omlet Smart Auto Door Timing Issues with Alexa Routines

[SuburbanChick]

Earlier this year feather pecking [and eating] started in my little group of chickens I fitted bumpa bits to three out of my four to be on the safe side and it seemed to work for a bit. A couple of weeks ago the bumpa bit fell off the original bully and within a day she had attacked the smallest hen and made her mark so a bumpa bit went back on. The trouble is this seems to have started a whole new season of feather pecking and eating and two of my chickens are able to do this even with bumpa bits on.

 

I have tried feather pecking spray and purple spray when necessary but I'm at the point of despair now. I was led to believe that if they had bumpa bits on for a while, my chickens would forget the habit of feather pecking. Adding to the problem now is the fact that my smallest and most pecked hen has gone broody and is pulling her own feathers out!!!

 

What on earth can I do now? It's all very upsetting especially as they're all bravely laying wonderful eggs regardless of whether they are pecked or not.

[gavclojak]

In sorry your having these problems, sometimes bumpa bits will have to be on the offender forever! You may have to seperate the bully for several weeks to knock her confidence and take her down the pecking order.

It's very distressing when this happens and highly stressful. It makes you wonder why you bother then things usually settle down. Fingers crossed x

[Beantree]

You may find the bits are too short SuburbanChick. Omlet sell 25mm bits that are fine for most, but if they are not 3mm longer than the hen's beak they have little or no effect. I ordered 30mm bits from Gamekeepa Supplies which are used for pheasants, so only available in packs of 100 unfortunately. Worked fine on our one persistent offender, but be aware that they can't pick stuff off the floor very easily and so need pellets in a feeder.

[Redwing]

In my humble opinion feather pecking is a result of a different problem, usually stress caused by lack of room, battles for feed etc but once established it becomes a habit that is hard to break

 

Personally I don't agree with bumper bits and beyond trying temporary separation etc would remove the offender from my flock permanently, Most adjust well to living in a much bigger flock or a flock with a cockerel

[Beantree]

I beg to differ Redwing. Our persistant offender has 20m2 free ranging and is top hen so gets choice of the feeders. She just likes the taste of feathers which has been cured by fitting the correct Bumpa bit.

[SuburbanChick]

Thank you for your support gavclojak and your recommendation to fit larger bumpa bits Beantree. I felt Redwing well and truly slapped my wrists as far as my chicken keeping was concerned

 

I have 4 chooks + 1 Omlet cube + 2 run extensions = 4 metre run with woodchips, full width perch and dust bath. The chooks are also let out every day for a wander in another 4 metres underneath the apple tree. They are all laying well and have had no health problems since I got them in April.

 

I feel I have been a resposible chicken keeper but I really feel like giving up now.

[gavclojak]

Oh please don't give up! I had a horrific few days when all my hens suddenly turned on one single girl, I tried everything but in the end had to rehome her, she was miserable as was I, she is now doing well with the lovely Paula

I wish I had persevered with her as I feel I let her down.

Keep with it as once it is sorted, and it will be, hen keeping is so much fun!!

I'm sure redwing didn't mean anything personal and I'm sure in the majority of cases she is absolutely right, but it sounds like yours is just down to pure bad luck

FYI I had my girls six months before it all kicked off and they have a 35square foot enclosure, tyre, dustbath, logs and perches, several gravity feeders, hanging corn and everything a spoilt hen could desire

[Redwing]

Thank you for your support gavclojak and your recommendation to fit larger bumpa bits Beantree. I felt Redwing well and truly slapped my wrists as far as my chicken keeping was concerned

 

I have 4 chooks + 1 Omlet cube + 2 run extensions = 4 metre run with woodchips, full width perch and dust bath. The chooks are also let out every day for a wander in another 4 metres underneath the apple tree. They are all laying well and have had no health problems since I got them in April.

 

I feel I have been a resposible chicken keeper but I really feel like giving up now.

 

I'm sorry if I made you feel that way, I am not out to upset people as those on here who know me well would agree. I have had several hundred birds and breed them so do try to throw light on problems that people have but I am an animal person not a people person it seems

 

I did say that behavior like that has an origin - it may well have been in the cramped conditions in which some birds are raised, weeks before people buy them sometimes and well beyond their control

 

Sometimes one bird gets under the weather and another bird turns on them (its instinct) and even if the bird bounces back the other will still keep on at them. Sometimes the trigger is so subtle the owner doesn't even notice it - chicken flock behaviour is really quite complex

 

I do not buy the theory that they develop a taste for these things or are deliberately mean with no reason

[gavclojak]

That's really interesting redwing, I would love to have a clue as to what set my girls off. I thought she might have been unwell, like you said but she wasn't and is still happily thriving within a different flock. She was very much part of the flock then within an hour that was it!! Mayhem.

[Beantree]

Our particular offender, a Buff Orpington, was bred by us from our utility strain pet cock and some show strain girls we bought for him. She was always a bit strange. She couldn't make the transition from chick crumb to the tiny Smallholder rearers pellets so we had to grind them up for her. I think her nature derives somehow from her ancestry, rather than any experience she ever personally had. She is very tame towards us and holds no fear of anything. Even the neighbouring cats give her a very wide berth. She lays incredibly well for an Orpington. Regular very large eggs which I think derives from her utility parentage and that may be the clue to her behaviour.

[jeshen]

I agree with you, Beantree! We're all (us, chickens and all living things) a product of our nature and nurture. You only have to look at a class of very small children or even a group of babies, to see that they are born with their characters largely ready-formed. Nurture obviously has an effect, but not as great as inherent nature, as has been shown by studies of separated identical twins. Chickens are no different as far as I can see! I'm no expert, but having hatched a couple of broods, it seems to me that their characters (placid, feisty,nervous, bullying or whatever) can be seen from a very young age.

[The Dogmother]

If the bits are the correct size, then they shouldn't still be able to do damage and pull feathers; I would check that first, post a picture on here and one of us will advise.

 

I have known rogue birds before; just plain nasty it's a shame; they will be better in a larger flock, or one with a cockerel, and isolation often helps.

 

My bantams are pretty settled and accept newbies really well after their initial isolation.