matt_attack
In the Brooder
- Apr 11, 2023
- 4
- 4
- 11
Hi everybody first post here I'd like to thank everybody who contributes to the site this site has been so valuable and helpful 
In November I decided to get my own little flock going I spent a good month researching and taking in as much information as possible before I jumped in and decided on 3 bantam easter eggers primarily due to their smaller size and heat tolerance, I live in the southern California desert where it can get up to 115 during the summer. I added some pictures to give a visual Cheetah (all tan) is the alpha older sister, Roxy (pretty multicolored) is the middle child and Cleo (all black) is the baby it's been that way since day 1 until last week when Cheetah started being a jerk to Roxy which threw me off because they've been bff's and inseparable the whole time as you can see in the pics with Cleo usually going with the flow. Luckily I was able to see in person the first incident and was off work to observe them for 4 days to see what was really going on poor Roxy became too skittish and wouldn't get down to feed or drink so I knew it was a bigger issue. They haven't laid their first eggs yet but Cleo my baby is giving all the signs she's going to be the first in a couple days so Cheetah in turn is pushing Roxy to the bottom Cheetah will be next to lay her comb is getting nice and big bright red poor Roxy appears to be a long way off from laying based on her comb which I believe are all contributing factors. Roxy is perfectly healthy from everything I can tell my hypothesis is that the pecking order is changing and Cheetah has some hard feelings with Cleo laying first and is just being a jerk about it. Currently Cheetah is in jail with her own section of the run cut off with a chicken wire wall while Cleo and Roxy have the other part they are fine together Roxy is still a bit skittish but is do normal chicken stuff with Cleo.
I think they have more than enough space for 3 bantams (I tried to plan for chicken math
) the run is almost 4" by 12" and the coop is 2" by 4" with 3 different roost levels plus a big supervised free range area that I open them up to for at least an hour every morning and night before their bedtime when I'm home. There's 3 different feed and water stations in the run plus another set of in the coop area usually a hanging head of lettuce, frozen watermelon, grapes and raspberries and plenty of roosts and other stuff to keep them entertained in the run when I'm working. I have small fans to circulate the air in the run where they roost plus amble shades and misters for the hotter days and I put a terracotta saucer that's been in the freezer with ice cubes for them to stand in everyday.
Long story short I think I've done all I can at this point to alleviate all possible stressors or agitators but any feedback or advice is greatly appreciated, and no culling is not an option take that somewhere else
In November I decided to get my own little flock going I spent a good month researching and taking in as much information as possible before I jumped in and decided on 3 bantam easter eggers primarily due to their smaller size and heat tolerance, I live in the southern California desert where it can get up to 115 during the summer. I added some pictures to give a visual Cheetah (all tan) is the alpha older sister, Roxy (pretty multicolored) is the middle child and Cleo (all black) is the baby it's been that way since day 1 until last week when Cheetah started being a jerk to Roxy which threw me off because they've been bff's and inseparable the whole time as you can see in the pics with Cleo usually going with the flow. Luckily I was able to see in person the first incident and was off work to observe them for 4 days to see what was really going on poor Roxy became too skittish and wouldn't get down to feed or drink so I knew it was a bigger issue. They haven't laid their first eggs yet but Cleo my baby is giving all the signs she's going to be the first in a couple days so Cheetah in turn is pushing Roxy to the bottom Cheetah will be next to lay her comb is getting nice and big bright red poor Roxy appears to be a long way off from laying based on her comb which I believe are all contributing factors. Roxy is perfectly healthy from everything I can tell my hypothesis is that the pecking order is changing and Cheetah has some hard feelings with Cleo laying first and is just being a jerk about it. Currently Cheetah is in jail with her own section of the run cut off with a chicken wire wall while Cleo and Roxy have the other part they are fine together Roxy is still a bit skittish but is do normal chicken stuff with Cleo. I think they have more than enough space for 3 bantams (I tried to plan for chicken math
) the run is almost 4" by 12" and the coop is 2" by 4" with 3 different roost levels plus a big supervised free range area that I open them up to for at least an hour every morning and night before their bedtime when I'm home. There's 3 different feed and water stations in the run plus another set of in the coop area usually a hanging head of lettuce, frozen watermelon, grapes and raspberries and plenty of roosts and other stuff to keep them entertained in the run when I'm working. I have small fans to circulate the air in the run where they roost plus amble shades and misters for the hotter days and I put a terracotta saucer that's been in the freezer with ice cubes for them to stand in everyday.Long story short I think I've done all I can at this point to alleviate all possible stressors or agitators but any feedback or advice is greatly appreciated, and no culling is not an option take that somewhere else
