Barred Rock does not let my poor Easter Egger hen eat??

[DarleneE]

Can anyone give me an idea as to what I can do about this?? Daisy just keeps bullying my poor, little Livie over food!! Please don't say to SEPARATE them to eat as Livie WILL NOT eat either if she isn't right beside and in the same bowl as Daisy!! I'd swear she likes being abused and bullied!!?? I've tried just giving them treats even just scattered on the ground even and she STILL dominates the entire area and runs her off!! I'm at a loss and it makes me SO upset to see this happening!! Thank you for any thoughts or ideas on this subject!!
D

 

[yochickiemomma]

Is this a new behavior or has this been ongoing? Also did you get them at different times?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

That's just dominant behavior, provide multiple feeding stations and continue to scatter some on the floor, how old are your birds, sometimes at the beginning of lay some hens become pushy, they tend to settle down after a bit, if you're really concerned pull your EE out for separate feedings.

 

[azygous]

More information would help.

How old are these two? How many are in the flock total?

Were these two brooder mates?

Does Livie get bullied by anyone else besides Daisy?

Does Daisy chase and run Livie down and peck her?

A lot depends on these questions as to the best way to deal with this problem.

 

[toddo]

Barred Rocks are that way, they want to be the dominate one.

 

[aart]

Agrees.....maybe more info needed.

I didn't see anything extreme from the chickens in that video, normal and pretty mild chicken dominance.

Just let them work it out, provide scattered treats and 2 main chicken ration feeders and they'll all get what they need.

 

[donrae]

I'm sorry you're so upset about it, but I watched the video for 2 minutes and it was the most uneventful thing I've ever seen. The EE is in good condition and obviously not starving, so I think things are fine.

The whole point of being the boss animal is to eat first. It seems to bother the humans way more than it does the beta animal, they're usually content with their place. If you have feed available all day, your birds will get enough to eat. It's quite a rare thing for any animal to literally guard the food source all day and not allow another animal to ever eat. The beta may not be able to eat when the alpha eats, that's normal. But the alpha will leave the food at some time and the beta can eat their fill.

If you want both birds to get treats as you had in the video, simply put two dishes out, several feet apart. it may take the beta bird a bit to figure it out, but she'll go eat from the other bowl. Or, she'll eat the leftovers from the alpha, that's what most betas do.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

The chickens are doing what is normal, putting two dishes down far apart is what you should be doing.

 

[DarleneE]

OK.. so, the hens are 23 months old. They were brooder mates, and I bought them together at a week old from a feed store. They have ALWAYS been together. This behavior did not just start, however it IS getting MUCH MUCH worse!!?? They are my only 2 hens. They are my "pets" only!! I didn't get them to provide us with eggs, although a great benefit. I got them to raise together with my little grandson who was only 7 yrs old at the time!! I knew NOTHING about chickens when I bought them.. STUPID THING TO HAVE DONE!! Esp not having known that BR are sooooooo aggressive and EE so gentle!! BAD MIX!!!!

NOW let me explain more and i apologize first cause this will be long in order to really explain!!
This began about 2 months ago. One day I found my Livie, the EE sitting in the corner with her eyes closed. She wasn't eating or drinking??!! She had a doughy crop?? I ran out and bought some Nutri-drench and some baby bird formula and began tube feeding her. Then noticed she wasn't pooping either?? At first I thought that was just cause she wasn't eating but not the case as she still didn't poop even after tube feedings?? I was told by a chicken breeder to put some veg oil down into her crop with a syringe. The following morning after doing this, she began to poop again. However it took awhile to get her to start eating again on her own and she lost ALOT of weight!! She is skin and bones!! She finally did start eating however.. thank God. She is now eating, drinking and playful again. However, I just still CANNOT get rid of the stuff in her crop!!?? It's just the oddest thing!! I've tried different things people have recommended without results. From oil, to hydrating her crop with lots of water to thin it out, to a mixture of spices and baking soda I found right here on byc. This last thing with the spices was the ONLY thing that DID make it almost all go away. Then I stopped it cause I felt the last teeny bit would go away on its own as she was doing so well. Well it all came back?? So now, it's smaller than it was, but it's still there. In the morning first thing it feels like a small ball of hard dough. It's a little smaller than a golf ball in size. I will then sit down and massage it and right away it gets thin, soft and mushy like when a chicken has eaten. However, now the really weird part... she has something in her crop that feels solid and it's in several pieces?? Honestly it feels to me like pieces of a lizard or something of that nature??!!! Once I massage her crop and get it soft, mushy and almost a liquid, then is when I can feel this!!??? It just has me baffled.

We've seen 2 different vets and no results. She had a complete blood count, an entire chemistry panel and a cytology taken of the crop contents and NOTHING showed up at all!! Noone seems to know what it is nor what this could be!! Any ideas??

Again like I said above, she IS eating, though not as much as I'd like due to Daisy bullying her and not letting her.. but she does eat. She is drinking water, she is running and playing!! She is actually acting normal now!! Yet there's this stuff in her crop that just will not go away!!???

She's always been the spokeswoman for the two, as I call her!! Lol She has always jumped up on top of the coup and hollered at the top of her lungs for me to come take them out to the yard to play in the mornings. Well when this all began she was way too weak to holler and could not even jump onto the coup. It was just sooooooo sad and I was certain I was going to lose her. Well this morning she actually finally did holler with as much strength as before again and no problem jumping up on the coup either!!!! Oh I was just ecstatic.. it was music to my ears!! So she's definitely gotten her strength back again, although she's still feathers and bones only!! I do think she may have gained a tiny bit back though. Not sure.. I'm in the process of getting a scale to monitor her weight closely.

So again I apologize for the long post, but felt I needed to explain all thoroughly!!
Thanks so much to all of you for your help, ideas and anything you can possibly offer to help me!!

PS: To those of you telling me to separate them to feed them... I CANNOT SEPARATE THEM!! Livie will not even try to eat if Daisy is not right by her side!!?? It's the craziest thing I've ever seen. It's like she LIKES to be mistreated??!!!

Thanks again to all of you for trying to help me with this!! Livie is MY PET and I just adore her and DO NOT want to lose her. ANY HELP you can provide me is greatly appreciated!!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Probably a dumb question but do you provide them grit. As far as behavior it's just the way chickens are, I have had EE be dominant, I wouldn't call it mean, because that would imply your chickens can rationalize such things, a flock needs structure and a pecking order to function. Good luck with your chickens, they sound well cared for.