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- #341
I posted this first on ‘Topic of the week’ about bullying. But I feel it belongs here too.
“About how I got a bully toward chicks, after she (Janice) was being bullied and traumatised herself. She’s not a bully for other hens.
I never bought chicks but had broodies hatching and caring. The bullying started twice with chicks /young pullets after the broody/broodies stopped caring.
First time this happened in 2019 when I had a broody with 2 cockerels and one pullet. I had 2 separate ads on our craigslist (marketplace) for the two cockerels. I cant keep roosters, but one could stay until next spring when he starts to rise and shine (crow) too early in the morning. The cockerels must have been 12 - 14 weeks old when a men came with his two sons and asked if they could have them both. And I stupidly said yes.
The 3 chicks had nicely integrated until the cockerels had gone. But the one pullet had a bad time after they had gone. She (Janice) was bullied at roosting time and wasn’t allowed to roost with the flock. It was not one agressor but a few who did this. Janice turned into a scared and flighty hen, and preferred to roost apart from the rest of the flock for several years. Over a year ago she finally roosted with the flock.
Last year Janice and another hen got broody and I gave them both hatchery in two nest-boxes aside from each other. The eggs were marked so I could take away the extra eggs. A third broody joined. And the did very well, too well. 9 out of 11 eggs hatched and turned into 4 young cockerels and 5 pullets.
After the chicks were weaned they were no longer welcome in the coop to roost. Janice was the one of the nastiest hen if it came to bullying in the evening. The youngsters had a branche in the run where they slept. I naively thought the hens saw them as a invasion because they outnumbered my hens. And this was the reason the got expelled from the roosts in the coop.
I had ads on Marketplace for some time, but so-far people where only interested in pullets and I only wanted to sell one if they took a cockerel for free too.
Finally someone bought most of them. Was happy with the cockerels and took two more as he really wanted to help me out. I had two pullets left. But they still were not allowed inside to roost. I had learned from the situation with Janice that its not helping to put the young pullets in between the other hens during the night. So I made a small coop for them in the run. Less safe but a nice solution it seemed. After a few weeks my eldest hen started to join the two pullets. And during the day she hang out with them once in a while too. But then, one white pullet disappeared. And I was glad the other pullet had the company of my eldest hen. After a week, Janice joined them and then bullied the pullet at roosting time. She was not allowed to roost in the small coop in the run too and started to roost on a branch in the second run alone (without cover). I had put her in the coop with the other 4 hens after dark and was thinking how to resolve this new problem, when she disappeared too.
Finally, I think I made a mistake to give away all cockerels at this young age. They probably would gave protected the pullets against the nasty behaviour of the adult hens. And having this one hen that is traumatised at a young ages is not a nice hen in the flock. I shouldn’t have let her being a broody. The was too protective and aggressive towards me when she had chicks. The 2 pullets I kept learned from her to be frightened for me.
Next year I want to buy some hatchery eggs and I try to figure out whats the best strategy to follow. I see two options:
“About how I got a bully toward chicks, after she (Janice) was being bullied and traumatised herself. She’s not a bully for other hens.
I never bought chicks but had broodies hatching and caring. The bullying started twice with chicks /young pullets after the broody/broodies stopped caring.
First time this happened in 2019 when I had a broody with 2 cockerels and one pullet. I had 2 separate ads on our craigslist (marketplace) for the two cockerels. I cant keep roosters, but one could stay until next spring when he starts to rise and shine (crow) too early in the morning. The cockerels must have been 12 - 14 weeks old when a men came with his two sons and asked if they could have them both. And I stupidly said yes.
The 3 chicks had nicely integrated until the cockerels had gone. But the one pullet had a bad time after they had gone. She (Janice) was bullied at roosting time and wasn’t allowed to roost with the flock. It was not one agressor but a few who did this. Janice turned into a scared and flighty hen, and preferred to roost apart from the rest of the flock for several years. Over a year ago she finally roosted with the flock.
Last year Janice and another hen got broody and I gave them both hatchery in two nest-boxes aside from each other. The eggs were marked so I could take away the extra eggs. A third broody joined. And the did very well, too well. 9 out of 11 eggs hatched and turned into 4 young cockerels and 5 pullets.
After the chicks were weaned they were no longer welcome in the coop to roost. Janice was the one of the nastiest hen if it came to bullying in the evening. The youngsters had a branche in the run where they slept. I naively thought the hens saw them as a invasion because they outnumbered my hens. And this was the reason the got expelled from the roosts in the coop.
I had ads on Marketplace for some time, but so-far people where only interested in pullets and I only wanted to sell one if they took a cockerel for free too.
Finally someone bought most of them. Was happy with the cockerels and took two more as he really wanted to help me out. I had two pullets left. But they still were not allowed inside to roost. I had learned from the situation with Janice that its not helping to put the young pullets in between the other hens during the night. So I made a small coop for them in the run. Less safe but a nice solution it seemed. After a few weeks my eldest hen started to join the two pullets. And during the day she hang out with them once in a while too. But then, one white pullet disappeared. And I was glad the other pullet had the company of my eldest hen. After a week, Janice joined them and then bullied the pullet at roosting time. She was not allowed to roost in the small coop in the run too and started to roost on a branch in the second run alone (without cover). I had put her in the coop with the other 4 hens after dark and was thinking how to resolve this new problem, when she disappeared too.
Finally, I think I made a mistake to give away all cockerels at this young age. They probably would gave protected the pullets against the nasty behaviour of the adult hens. And having this one hen that is traumatised at a young ages is not a nice hen in the flock. I shouldn’t have let her being a broody. The was too protective and aggressive towards me when she had chicks. The 2 pullets I kept learned from her to be frightened for me.
Next year I want to buy some hatchery eggs and I try to figure out whats the best strategy to follow. I see two options:
- Letting one of my friendly hens sit. My sweet oldest hen Ini mini, or Kraai or Black who are friendly to me too.
- Or buy a small incubator and raise the chicks myself so they can grow up in thrust if a human and keep them separated until they are old enough in the second run.