MrsNorthie
Crowing
- May 3, 2023
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I am sorry. It is sad and I do not envy your position, but that is not healthy behaviour for any of them.He'll be gone tomorrow. It's all rather sad but this can't go on.
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I am sorry. It is sad and I do not envy your position, but that is not healthy behaviour for any of them.He'll be gone tomorrow. It's all rather sad but this can't go on.
He's had a very sweet life.He'll be gone tomorrow. It's all rather sad but this can't go on
You're right. I found this, which I think explains the differences between them well. It also has tips on how to make pyrethrum more effective but still safe.Hopefully someone with a scientific background can explain it better than I, but I think that permethrin is a chemical reproduction of natural pyrethrin.
It's entirely for you to decide on his fate of course. I'm just a bit surprised that they all look to be in such good condition if they're subjected to serious attacks, especially given all the hours they're locked up together in the run. He's young and boisterous. Is he also nasty?Three hours today. It got quite chilly towards dusk.
Dig has got to go. I almost killed him this evening after he knocked Fret over then tried to rake her with his feet. He attacked Mow today as well. He wasn't trying to mate. Mow was eating and he just flew at her. He'll be gone tomorrow. It's all rather sad but this can't go on.
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This article would have benefited from a glossary of terms!You're right. I found this, which I think explains the differences between them well. It also has tips on how to make pyrethrum more effective but still safe.
https://www.livingwithbugs.com/permethrin_pyrethrum.html
They get a hold of a little bit of our hearts, which makes it harder to do what is the best for all.In different circumstances...
I have to deal with the circumstances I have.
Over the last few days the hens behaviour has changed and they cluster around Henry or me when out of the run. This picture sums things up, Henry trying to protect his hens with Dig hanging around the outskirts waitng to make a dive at either Carbon or Fret. Mow gets as far away as possible and recently she's been reluctant to go into the coop at roosting time.
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Carbon already has a bald patch on her back and now Fret has a small wound on her back from Dig's attempt to mate with her. Nobody is happy with the current situation.
Fret would like to sit and hatch again. Yesterday when she went into the coop to have a trial sit as she does, Dig went in after her and dragged her out of the nest box.
More hens might help the situation but Dig would need his own coop if he could entice any new comers to live with him. In such confined conditions even if I bought another coop for Dig, I very much doubt things would improve and I do not want to import hens. I want Fret or Carbon or Mow to sit and hatch and while Dig is there this looks unlikely.
Dig isn't happy. He's not getting much of a life in these circumstances. Trying to fight Henry has proven to be a non option and non of the hens will crouch for Dig. Dig is driven away from the food which is normal and that means I have to ensure he gets properly fed after the others have eaten.
It's possible that Dig might settle down in another six months or so but fights between Dig and Henry would continue and meanwhile the hens would have to live in constant fear of either attacks, or mating attempts from Dig.
My primary commitment is to provide Henry, Fret, Carbon and now Mow with an acceptable quality of life and currently that is not what they're getting. It's a shame about Dig and it will be a shame for any future cockerels that may hatch and behave in a similar manner.
It wouldn't be fair to Fret and any other hen that went broody to prevent them from sitting and hatching because dealing with the cockerels is always likely to be a difficult decision.
That is why I asked several days ago if you thought it was due to his personality, to the settings, or both.It's a shame about Dig and it will be a shame for any future cockerels that may hatch and behave in a similar manner.
It wouldn't be fair to Fret and any other hen that went broody to prevent them from sitting and hatching because dealing with the cockerels is always likely to be a difficult decision.