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I think you are right about the ducks gone and I don't know why they are mean to each other either but I can't help thinking there is jealousy involved.
They are not flaring their hackle feathers at all, Jellybean mostly sneaks up on Roo although Roo has gotten wise to it and often runs away. Lilah has kicked and bitten Pedro before but its rare, Pedro has kicked at Roo and pecks her too on the back of the neck but tends not to prolong it once she's got her message across she walks off from Roo. Jellybean kicks at Roo daily, she bites her, pecks her and scratches her with her claws, she hammers down on Roo's neck, head and face with her beak. Often Lilah will break up the fights she will pull the girls off Roo and sees them off by pecking them sharply but then Roo goes and steals whatever Lilah is eating and pecks poor Lilah!
It seems the ducks going has confused everyone :(
On this pick taken last weekend, if you look you can just about see how Roo is starting to lay on Lilah, shortly after this was taken, Roo pecked Lilah in the face, Lilah moves away but Roo moves too and ends up almost laying completely over Lilah, she pecks Lilah again and so Lilah gets up and walks away and misses out on having her dirt bath.
View attachment 1704495
I don't understand why Lilah is being submissive to Roo, nor do I understand why Lilah doesn't give Roo what for like she gives the others, unless its the mother in her and she still sees Roo as her daughter - who knows :confused:
I love Roo very much but I really believe if we only had the other three we'd have no problems at all, giving her up is not an option though.
I did have Pedro and Jellybean in the house, Pedro for 5 days, Jellybean 7 days, no changes on the pecking order then, no one forgot anyone and both strolled back in as though they had never left. The attacks calmed down somewhat but when we took the ducks the attacks escalated again.
Roo is ruining the only friendship she has which is with Lilah, Pedro and Jellybean won't ever be friends with Roo - Lilah, Pedro and Jellybean get on relatively well together, put Roo in the mix and it all goes to pot and I need a solution to this which doesn't involve re-homing any of them.
I would say Lilah doesn’t give Roo what for because she just doesn’t want to.
Clearly she could if she wanted.
I know it’s hard to watch because from a human standpoint it looks really mean but chicken society can be brutal.
The more we interfere the longer it takes for things to settle down.
The more we change things in their environment the longer it takes too.
Chickens hate change but they can adapt to it.
Cleo gets pecked by almost every bird in my flock.
That’s 20 birds!
But she has learned to keep her distance.
She moves fast now so they can’t get her.
She is lowest on the pecking order because she’s the youngest.
But it probably won’t always be that way.
I hope you can take a deep breath and see that they are enjoying their lives.
They can dust bathe and probably sun bathe too.
They have good food and fresh water.
They are doing great.
Don’t worry about them.
 
I would say Lilah doesn’t give Roo what for because she just doesn’t want to.
Clearly she could if she wanted.
I know it’s hard to watch because from a human standpoint it looks really mean but chicken society can be brutal.
The more we interfere the longer it takes for things to settle down.
The more we change things in their environment the longer it takes too.
Chickens hate change but they can adapt to it.
Cleo gets pecked by almost every bird in my flock.
That’s 20 birds!
But she has learned to keep her distance.
She moves fast now so they can’t get her.
She is lowest on the pecking order because she’s the youngest.
But it probably won’t always be that way.
I hope you can take a deep breath and see that they are enjoying their lives.
They can dust bathe and probably sun bathe too.
They have good food and fresh water.
They are doing great.
Don’t worry about them.
Thanks hun :) I just need to give them time to sort themselves out and readjust. When I think about it, Pedro and Jellybean were with the drakes from two weeks old and had never had a single day without them and now they are gone, and Roo hung with the ducks a lot everyday, the drakes used to protect her from the others, and Jellybean has only recently stopped looking for them. Lilah is the only one who seems unaffected by their departure but even so it is bound to have made an impact on the flock. The storms we are having aren't helping matters either, the high winds scare them as they are not used to it at all, we still keep our backdoor open for them during the storms so they can hide in here if they choose to and helps a lot but at the worst of the storms they have been showing signs of stress and I guess all these factors together puts further stress on their relationships. Here's hoping they sort it out soon :fl
 
I would say Lilah doesn’t give Roo what for because she just doesn’t want to.
Clearly she could if she wanted.
I know it’s hard to watch because from a human standpoint it looks really mean but chicken society can be brutal.
The more we interfere the longer it takes for things to settle down.
The more we change things in their environment the longer it takes too.
Chickens hate change but they can adapt to it.
Cleo gets pecked by almost every bird in my flock.
That’s 20 birds!
But she has learned to keep her distance.
She moves fast now so they can’t get her.
She is lowest on the pecking order because she’s the youngest.
But it probably won’t always be that way.
I hope you can take a deep breath and see that they are enjoying their lives.
They can dust bathe and probably sun bathe too.
They have good food and fresh water.
They are doing great.
Don’t worry about them.

In my case...
I can understand a little pecking, but a year later, the older girls here are way more brutal. Rain literally grabbed Dorothy by the neck and wouldn't let go. She literally latched on--similar to a dog fight. Dorothy is way to sweet for that. I'm hoping maybe Dorothy will fit in with the babies.
 
Meanwhile I'm thinking I got an austerlaup(so?) and not a jersey giant . I say this because none of them are really that much bigger them the other and I think a jersey giant would be at this age.

I will be taking pictures to identify what I got...
Jerseys take two years to get to full size. Mine aren’t that much bigger than normal chicks. Remember they will take up to a year to lay an egg where on average it’s 6 months
 
Mine have never been bad to each other at all. But there are only 4 of them. In fact, I'm not absolutely positive of the pecking order. Maybe it's still in flux because they are just starting to lay. They've never really pecked at each other...until a few days ago. Suddenly Opal is pecking Diamond hard enough to make her squawk. But not consistently. She'll peck her away from a treat but then when Diamond comes back it's fine. Sometimes she'll peck her for no obvious reason. That's the only positive evidence of a pecking order that I currently have.

Pearl being on top of the order is based on when I let them out of the run last year. When they'd all do the run up and chest bump, the others always backed down from her. But in the run, Opal and Diamond go up on the highest outside roost and nobody else does. It's possible they are the best fliers and nobody else can get there though.

I think Diamond is on the bottom? But just because she's the only one pecked by Opal. So maybe Opal is second from the bottom. Pearl and Jade don't seem to bully anyone and nobody bullies them. They also don't care if the others eat with them.

Diamond hasn't pecked at me lately but probably because I'm more careful plus I pick her up and hold her whenever I'm doing anything that only takes one hand. She seems calmer after I hold her a while. Maybe she likes being away from Opal.

I guess I'll see how things are when all 4 are laying and they are out in the yard again. The snow is just about gone and the ground no longer frozen so the water soaked in. I'm thinking of letting them out today in fact. it's supposed to get to the 50's Wednesday. I think I might try to fill the low area in the run that had standing water. I get dirt from the woods behind our yard. They sure love to scratch in it. Probably all kinds of yummy bugs and stuff in it.
 
I have no issues with the originals. The 3 older ones together fine, the 4 younger ones together fine, mix them together and all hell breaks loose.

I got some pics not great becsuse they are on the move..


Sapphire gem?
image.jpg



Jersey giant?
image.jpg





Oliver Egger in the front with white on chest? Thd 3 dark ones I am questioning
image.jpg


Really interested in the camera..olive egged?

image.jpg


Jersey giant?
image.jpg


Help
 
In my case...
I can understand a little pecking, but a year later, the older girls here are way more brutal. Rain literally grabbed Dorothy by the neck and wouldn't let go. She literally latched on--similar to a dog fight. Dorothy is way to sweet for that. I'm hoping maybe Dorothy will fit in with the babies.
Same here, the older they get the worse they get. So far had a quite peaceful day a few bits of chasing but on the whole everyone just getting on with doing their own thing. Winds have died down which seems to have made a difference so maybe it's a mixture of several stress factors or maybe they are just turning into cranky old women lol
 
Mine have never been bad to each other at all. But there are only 4 of them. In fact, I'm not absolutely positive of the pecking order. Maybe it's still in flux because they are just starting to lay. They've never really pecked at each other...until a few days ago. Suddenly Opal is pecking Diamond hard enough to make her squawk. But not consistently. She'll peck her away from a treat but then when Diamond comes back it's fine. Sometimes she'll peck her for no obvious reason. That's the only positive evidence of a pecking order that I currently have.

Pearl being on top of the order is based on when I let them out of the run last year. When they'd all do the run up and chest bump, the others always backed down from her. But in the run, Opal and Diamond go up on the highest outside roost and nobody else does. It's possible they are the best fliers and nobody else can get there though.

I think Diamond is on the bottom? But just because she's the only one pecked by Opal. So maybe Opal is second from the bottom. Pearl and Jade don't seem to bully anyone and nobody bullies them. They also don't care if the others eat with them.

Diamond hasn't pecked at me lately but probably because I'm more careful plus I pick her up and hold her whenever I'm doing anything that only takes one hand. She seems calmer after I hold her a while. Maybe she likes being away from Opal.

I guess I'll see how things are when all 4 are laying and they are out in the yard again. The snow is just about gone and the ground no longer frozen so the water soaked in. I'm thinking of letting them out today in fact. it's supposed to get to the 50's Wednesday. I think I might try to fill the low area in the run that had standing water. I get dirt from the woods behind our yard. They sure love to scratch in it. Probably all kinds of yummy bugs and stuff in it.
:goodpost:
 
I have no issues with the originals. The 3 older ones together fine, the 4 younger ones together fine, mix them together and all hell breaks loose.

I got some pics not great becsuse they are on the move..


Sapphire gem?
View attachment 1704847


Jersey giant?
View attachment 1704848




Oliver Egger in the front with white on chest? Thd 3 dark ones I am questioning
View attachment 1704849

Really interested in the camera..olive egged?

View attachment 1704850

Jersey giant?
View attachment 1704851

Help
No idea but they sure are cute!
 

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