762
Songster
First I want to say that we have a flock that gets along super well. So well, in fact, that it's difficult to discern that there even is a pecking order.
We have a Silver-Penciled Wyandotte hen that hatched just two chicks in one of the coop laying boxes last week. She started foraging around the coop with them a few days ago and there have been no issues. Other hens come in and lay in the 6-gang hutch, and leave after to go do their chicken stuff. All good. Except today. She will not allow our two Lavender Orpington hens to enter the coop to lay! The other Wyandottes are allowed to enter and even forage around the coop with the momma and chicks (which is odd because NONE of our chickens ever just "hang out" in the coop unless they are in a nesting box). She even scratched out a sign that says "WINE DOTS ONLY", which was appalling. Ok, that's a joke but the rest is true. In fact, we hatched out two chicks about 1.5 weeks before her chicks hatched; one Wyandotte and one black split Orpington. We introduced them to momma to see what she would do. She had no problem with the Wyandotte chick but went after the Orpington chick, who ran back into my hands
Anyway, I guess I am going to have to put her and babies into the old brooder/pen so the Orpingtons aren't kicked out of the coop. I guess this is normal behavior, but I was very surprised by it since there was no problem until today, and there is almost zero conflict within our flock.
We have a Silver-Penciled Wyandotte hen that hatched just two chicks in one of the coop laying boxes last week. She started foraging around the coop with them a few days ago and there have been no issues. Other hens come in and lay in the 6-gang hutch, and leave after to go do their chicken stuff. All good. Except today. She will not allow our two Lavender Orpington hens to enter the coop to lay! The other Wyandottes are allowed to enter and even forage around the coop with the momma and chicks (which is odd because NONE of our chickens ever just "hang out" in the coop unless they are in a nesting box). She even scratched out a sign that says "WINE DOTS ONLY", which was appalling. Ok, that's a joke but the rest is true. In fact, we hatched out two chicks about 1.5 weeks before her chicks hatched; one Wyandotte and one black split Orpington. We introduced them to momma to see what she would do. She had no problem with the Wyandotte chick but went after the Orpington chick, who ran back into my hands
Anyway, I guess I am going to have to put her and babies into the old brooder/pen so the Orpingtons aren't kicked out of the coop. I guess this is normal behavior, but I was very surprised by it since there was no problem until today, and there is almost zero conflict within our flock.