A Newbie Chicken Owner in Hot Water

[Willowspirit]

My mother was feeding them treats that I didn't know about. She didn't know better. That at least should change. As for getting another Orpington, we did consider this (I wanted to name her Honey), but we decided to wait and see if any of them would go broody before getting another chick. It's good to know that a lot of Orpingtons are like that - at least I know she's normal. As for the ACV, I never knew it wasn't healthy for them! I'll have to change that. Sunshine's usually doesn't have it, so at least there's that. Too bad I just filled up their waterer - I could have left it out this week.

ACV won’t really hurt them but IMO (and many people I like and respect disagree with me) fresh water is better. My chickens have definite water preferences. Each has a favorite water source.

 

[blackandtan]

Agree that the orp needs a buddy of her own, and definitely more animal protein, chickens aren’t vegetarian - if you watch a chicken free ranging she’ll choose more bugs and worms etc than seeds and greens

 

[trumpeting_angel]

One of my Buff Orpingtons is at the top of the pecking order. I have 2 BOs, a Black Australorp, and a Gold-Laced Wyandotte. The GLW is at the bottom of the pecking order. She is a bit smaller and not as smart as the others, and not aggressive at all.

It seems like your chickens know that Sunshine was born “not quite right,” smaller and slightly deformed with her toes. I wonder if this is nature’s way of culling the birds that shouldn’t reproduce. That said, nature doesn’t love the chickies the way that we do! I find myself getting annoyed at my Buffy who is on top, especially when she pecks my little GLW and takes the “best” food for herself. (My GLW is getting plenty to eat, but often has to wait for a turn.)

You can buy bird netting to cover your larger run. If the pine tree is right in the run, I guess it will be tricky. Best of luck!

 

[ThreeFeathers]

I never knew that they had such a high fat content! Thank you so much! I'll definitely try to work my mother around on the idea of feeding them meat.

 

[ThreeFeathers]

Thanks for the idea with bird netting! I never thought of that. I will definitely look into it! Aww... your GLW sounds just like Sunshine! I wish her luck in dealing with the BO.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I'm not sure about feeding them meat. Would meal worms and unsalted sunflower seeds work as well?

17% protein isn't bad IMO (I average about 16.5% protein), though the treats would've diluted down the protein percentage since they were probably favoring treats over feed. So if you can cut down treats substantially, that'll help without adding extra protein. Sunflower seeds and mealworms are both rather fatty, so I'd feed those in moderation.

As far as run space, yes more is better, because it lets them get away from each other as needed (in this case, they're obviously needing it) plus provides the necessary amount of room to add "obstacles" to enrich their environment, such as perches, different levels, things to go under and around, piles of plant matter to scratch through, etc. Those obstacles also will give a bird that's picked on some avenue of escape from a bully.

 

[ThreeFeathers]

Thanks for the advice, everybody! I am so surprised and happy at how many people responded. I will definitely be increasing their run space (maybe using bird netting?), cutting back on the treats and feeding them meat scraps. Maybe we'll even get a little BO chick, ya know, just to solve the problem, not at all because they're so irresistibly cute...
Seriously though, thank you all so much for all the advice. I really appreciate it, and I have a good feeling that it'll work.

 

[ThreeFeathers]

Thank you so much! I'll look into building them some more perches and such. We have a lot of power tools and scrap wood lying around, so it shouldn't be too hard.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Maybe we'll even get a little BO chick, ya know, just to solve the problem, not at all because they're so irresistibly cute...

I know this was mostly in jest, but adding more birds without first finding a peaceful resolution for your current issues, would only cause more problems.

If you are thinking of more birds down the line, I'd expand the set up with that in mind - better to build for the flock you think you might end up with, than to go minimal and have to repeatedly expand.

 

[ValerieJ]

Thanks for the advice, ValerieJ! I forgot to mention that we did try that. We kept Raven in a separate pen in the garage for a week when she was being aggressive towards Sunshine. It didn't help, though. We have two feeders (one twenty pound one with two openings and a smaller one from when they were chicks that Sunshine eats from), two waterers (a two gallon one with two cups to drink from and a small bowl (refilled each day) in Sunshine's pen). There is also a small cage thing that hangs in the large pen. This is occasionally filled with treats like broccoli, brussels sprouts, squash, pepper heads, or small pieces of corn. Whenever we offer treats outside the runs, we try to do so in two or three different locations. They have two separate runs that are totally enclosed. The large one (for Dottie and Jojo) is eight feet long and almost three feet wide (about 24 square feet) It has a peaked roof that is 42 inches high at the highest point. Sunshine's is a little less than half that. (I'm not sure of the exact dimensions.) There are roosts in both coops and one in each run. They are let out for several hours almost every day when I get home. During this time they are in a larger run that is not totally enclosed. It takes up the entire space beneath a very large pine. It is just dirt, but they have a swing (that they never use), a small structure of stacked bricks to climb on, and a piece of concrete pipe. Sometimes we hang up a piece of cabbage for them to peck at. As for hiding, there is the tree's trunk, the rain barrel, and behind and around the coops. Most weekends and on the occasional weekday, they will spend several hours in the side of our yard, under another pine (they love the dirt there), in our landscaping, and in the lawn, eating clover and dandelions.

It sounds to me like Raven is like my Rosie and the solution will take time and patience. Since you have two runs and coops, how about putting Raven in the small one for a couple weeks. They can then all see each other but she cannot touch. (Did you say you tried that?) Another thing some people do is keep the aggressive chicken inside the same coop and run, but in an enclosure such as a dog crate, with food and water. I call that chicken jail and haven't tried it myself, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't. In my experience, at any rate, Raven is the one you need to deal with and when she settles down, everything will settle down. But, she will always peck and ride. Rosie did. Two of my other hens that she was the bossiest with were always missing feathers in their saddle area. They are finishing a molt and looking so beautiful! Culling a hen is a personal decision and I wouldn't make that recommendation. But, as much as I loved Rosie, given the same circumstances again I would have culled her long ago. She was 4 years old when I lost her, so that's a long time to terrorize my other chickens. BTW, I have 4,000 SF in the run, 3 coops available to all, and oodles of obstacles. None of that stopped Rosie. Just sayin... Good luck and keep us posted. I hope you can find a way to get Raven to stop being such a meanie.