Clucky Hens
In the Brooder
- Jun 8, 2015
- 4
- 0
- 32
Hello! We have an existing flock of 6 chickens and 3 ducks (khaki campbells, 2 female and thought 3rd was a hen, but turned into a drake!). Anyway, we needed one more layer, as we thought we initially had 3 
. Bought another hen from the flock that our ducks came from. We've had them since June, they are all wonderful. One female is very friendly, other is still a little shy and Mr. A, well, he stands back more than the others. We needed another female for eggs, so we thought getting one from same flock would be best. Brought her home last night and went ahead and let her in with the others. The females don't seem to mind her at all, but Mr A keeps separating her from the others and plucking at the feathers at her neck. Poor girl keeps getting chased around the coop and can't even relax. I finally pulled him out of the coop so that she can rest a bit and socialize some. He doesn't like it much, but I feel that it is better. I understand that there will be some pecking order that needs to be established, but I also don't like the fact that he has pulled out so many of her feathers around her neck. The chickens are all well mannered and more interested in us humans than the additional duck. Any suggestions, should I keep him separated for a bit to calm things down? Will he stop picking on her? Any help will be appreciated. It's only been one day, maybe a little more time would help, but I couldn't standby and watch him pecking all her feathers out! Thank you!
PS...I love having chickens and ducks, never thought I'd have them, it's actually quite funny! My son loves them so much, all he wants for Christmas is anther coop with 20 chickens of his own to start his own egg business. He is 15, very proud of him! He's got it all planned out, saved up some $ and started gathering supplies! Sorry, got sidetracked! Squirrel! I love chickens!
. Bought another hen from the flock that our ducks came from. We've had them since June, they are all wonderful. One female is very friendly, other is still a little shy and Mr. A, well, he stands back more than the others. We needed another female for eggs, so we thought getting one from same flock would be best. Brought her home last night and went ahead and let her in with the others. The females don't seem to mind her at all, but Mr A keeps separating her from the others and plucking at the feathers at her neck. Poor girl keeps getting chased around the coop and can't even relax. I finally pulled him out of the coop so that she can rest a bit and socialize some. He doesn't like it much, but I feel that it is better. I understand that there will be some pecking order that needs to be established, but I also don't like the fact that he has pulled out so many of her feathers around her neck. The chickens are all well mannered and more interested in us humans than the additional duck. Any suggestions, should I keep him separated for a bit to calm things down? Will he stop picking on her? Any help will be appreciated. It's only been one day, maybe a little more time would help, but I couldn't standby and watch him pecking all her feathers out! Thank you! PS...I love having chickens and ducks, never thought I'd have them, it's actually quite funny! My son loves them so much, all he wants for Christmas is anther coop with 20 chickens of his own to start his own egg business. He is 15, very proud of him! He's got it all planned out, saved up some $ and started gathering supplies! Sorry, got sidetracked! Squirrel! I love chickens!
