Hi all, just wanted to share some good news.
I had 2 Production Reds 7 months old. One of which was very mean the the other 9 flock members ages 8-10 weeks. They have always been separate where they could only see each other. I started slowly introducing them but Amber, the lead hen, was relentless. She would just go after the young ones no matter where they were. Picking out feathers as she pecked. Well after some advice from BYC I decided to rehome my PRs. Last Saturday I was to take them to auction but decided to give April the less aggressive one a chance to get along.
Well now Amber is gone and things seem a lot better. April only really picked on the babies when Amber was around, pier pressure works on chickens too. I switched the birds, April in the babies pen so the wee ones could get use to the larger area and coop. After two days April had enough and forced her way through. Glad to say they seem to be getting along fine. April will occasionally chase them away but that's it. I set up multiple food and water stations so there is no squabbles and the babies have a place to escape if needed.
My 4 year old is very happy we kept April. She did not like the idea of not having eggs for a few months. After all collecting the eggs, or now egg is her job.
First night roosting. I was worried April would chase them off but they have been sleeping sound together for the past 3 nights.
April and Peezer eating scratch together. It will be interesting to see what happens between them. Peezer is the leader of the 9 chicks.
I had 2 Production Reds 7 months old. One of which was very mean the the other 9 flock members ages 8-10 weeks. They have always been separate where they could only see each other. I started slowly introducing them but Amber, the lead hen, was relentless. She would just go after the young ones no matter where they were. Picking out feathers as she pecked. Well after some advice from BYC I decided to rehome my PRs. Last Saturday I was to take them to auction but decided to give April the less aggressive one a chance to get along.
Well now Amber is gone and things seem a lot better. April only really picked on the babies when Amber was around, pier pressure works on chickens too. I switched the birds, April in the babies pen so the wee ones could get use to the larger area and coop. After two days April had enough and forced her way through. Glad to say they seem to be getting along fine. April will occasionally chase them away but that's it. I set up multiple food and water stations so there is no squabbles and the babies have a place to escape if needed.
My 4 year old is very happy we kept April. She did not like the idea of not having eggs for a few months. After all collecting the eggs, or now egg is her job.
First night roosting. I was worried April would chase them off but they have been sleeping sound together for the past 3 nights.
April and Peezer eating scratch together. It will be interesting to see what happens between them. Peezer is the leader of the 9 chicks.
