I have six ISA Browns. They are a year old.
One got sour crop. I brought her in the house and nursed her. She got better and I put her back in the coop with her buddies. WELL APPARENTLY THEY WERENT HER BUDDIES ANYMORE! Two days later she had a bloodied comb. I wasn't keeping a close eye on them because I didn't think there would be an issue. I brought her back in and put her in the dog cage in the garage. I was worried her sour crop wasn't cured, so I treated her for a few more days. Then I brought one of her buddies into the garage with her. It was one of the quieter hens that is lower on the pecking chain. They fought. I put Blondie (the chicken that had sour crop) in the dog cage and let White (the other healthy chicken) roam around the garage. They stayed like that for the night and I let them out together in the morning. They fought a little more, but not much. No big deal. Blondie became the victor. lol
So there was chicken crap all over my garbage, and I was like.....THATS IT! They are going in the coop with everyone else. My reasoning was that putting them both back in, it would be 2 against 4, instead of just putting Blondie back in alone and it being 1 against 6. Well they didn't care about White. They just picked on Blondie. I introduced them to each other in the open yard while they were free ranging. Blondie kept trying to be VERY far away from everyone. I had to put everyone in and the head chicken and another one went after Blondie with a vengeance. She wasn't even fighting back. She was just trying to run away. I was afraid for her. So then I took the head chicken, Red, and put HER in the garage. I figured Blondie would have a better chance of not getting ganged up on that way. So now I will keep Red in the dog cage for a day or two and put her back in the coop. I am sure she will challenge Blondie again, but at least then it will only be one chicken challenging her instead of two or three.
Is this normal? Do you have to go thru this when you bring a chicken in for a few days to a week to doctor them? Am I doing the right thing? I know that they will fight, but when blood is involved........
I feel so bad for Blondie. These chickens are my pets with benefits and Blondie is so sweet, she is actually the biggest too. Go figure.
Sorry this is so long. :/
One got sour crop. I brought her in the house and nursed her. She got better and I put her back in the coop with her buddies. WELL APPARENTLY THEY WERENT HER BUDDIES ANYMORE! Two days later she had a bloodied comb. I wasn't keeping a close eye on them because I didn't think there would be an issue. I brought her back in and put her in the dog cage in the garage. I was worried her sour crop wasn't cured, so I treated her for a few more days. Then I brought one of her buddies into the garage with her. It was one of the quieter hens that is lower on the pecking chain. They fought. I put Blondie (the chicken that had sour crop) in the dog cage and let White (the other healthy chicken) roam around the garage. They stayed like that for the night and I let them out together in the morning. They fought a little more, but not much. No big deal. Blondie became the victor. lol
So there was chicken crap all over my garbage, and I was like.....THATS IT! They are going in the coop with everyone else. My reasoning was that putting them both back in, it would be 2 against 4, instead of just putting Blondie back in alone and it being 1 against 6. Well they didn't care about White. They just picked on Blondie. I introduced them to each other in the open yard while they were free ranging. Blondie kept trying to be VERY far away from everyone. I had to put everyone in and the head chicken and another one went after Blondie with a vengeance. She wasn't even fighting back. She was just trying to run away. I was afraid for her. So then I took the head chicken, Red, and put HER in the garage. I figured Blondie would have a better chance of not getting ganged up on that way. So now I will keep Red in the dog cage for a day or two and put her back in the coop. I am sure she will challenge Blondie again, but at least then it will only be one chicken challenging her instead of two or three.
Is this normal? Do you have to go thru this when you bring a chicken in for a few days to a week to doctor them? Am I doing the right thing? I know that they will fight, but when blood is involved........
I feel so bad for Blondie. These chickens are my pets with benefits and Blondie is so sweet, she is actually the biggest too. Go figure.
Sorry this is so long. :/