chickenlady1150
In the Brooder
I had a flock of chickens that had to be relocated last year due to a tree that had to be cut down. Their coop and run had to be torn down to get the tree out so my cousin adopted the flock. I went to visit a few weeks ago and when I saw my favorite bird, Betty Boop, it made me cry. She is a Whiting Wellsummer Hybrid and is so beautiful. I picked her up and it was as if we had never been separated. My cousin decided that when we got the coop and run put back together she would send Betty Boop home with me.
Well in the mean time we got a new flock of chicks that are now 9 weeks old. We went and got Betty Boop and upon introducing her to the new flock she has become quite aggressive. She was keeping the babies from the food and water so we set up another waterer and feeder on the opposite end of the run with a blind in front of it so that Betty can't see them unless she goes over there. She is also chasing them out if the coop after they have roosted for bed at night. The coop is not big enough to separate them and I don't have another coop to put Betty in.
I am at a loss and I'm hoping that this is a short lived situation that will calm down but I'm not so sure what to do in the mean time. I hate the thought of taking her back to my cousin but I can't have her being a bully either. Can anyone tell me if this is normal and if it will work itself out in time? My research says it's normal and will settle down in a week or two but watching it is really difficult and painful. When we had the old flock she was the boss for sure and is quite dominant in nature.
The new 9 week old flock is made up of 2 Barred Rocks, 2 RIR's, 2 Austrolorps. and 1 ISA Brown. We also have 3 more Whiting Wellsummer Hybrids inside that are only 3 weeks old. I am nervous about introducing them and this starting all over again.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated...
Well in the mean time we got a new flock of chicks that are now 9 weeks old. We went and got Betty Boop and upon introducing her to the new flock she has become quite aggressive. She was keeping the babies from the food and water so we set up another waterer and feeder on the opposite end of the run with a blind in front of it so that Betty can't see them unless she goes over there. She is also chasing them out if the coop after they have roosted for bed at night. The coop is not big enough to separate them and I don't have another coop to put Betty in.
I am at a loss and I'm hoping that this is a short lived situation that will calm down but I'm not so sure what to do in the mean time. I hate the thought of taking her back to my cousin but I can't have her being a bully either. Can anyone tell me if this is normal and if it will work itself out in time? My research says it's normal and will settle down in a week or two but watching it is really difficult and painful. When we had the old flock she was the boss for sure and is quite dominant in nature.
The new 9 week old flock is made up of 2 Barred Rocks, 2 RIR's, 2 Austrolorps. and 1 ISA Brown. We also have 3 more Whiting Wellsummer Hybrids inside that are only 3 weeks old. I am nervous about introducing them and this starting all over again.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated...