Blind pullet.

[dmrussell]

I recently got a black copper maran thrown in with a few chicks i bought from a local breeder because she was small. Turns out she is blind somewhat if not totally. She has a "buddy" right now, a lavender orp who is the same age. They are about 5-6 weeks old and coop ready. I have a flock of about 8 including one really big rooster. None of them are over three months old. The rooster just started crowing and is trying to mount some of the older hens. When I have introduced other small batches of pullets they have sorted things out with relatively little trouble. BUT this is a different scenario. I'm partly worried the blind one will get picked on and ultimately killed. However, when I've put them in the run for short periods of time the lav is the one getting chased around and pecked because she sees the threatening behaviors of the others. The blind one stays put in oblivious bliss. And surprisingly the other ones haven't pecked her yet. But the rooster rrrreeeeeallllly wants to. I haven't let him because I'm afraid he'll hurt her as she is so much smaller than he and will totally be caught by surprise. The lav also runs away and comes back to her buddy, but they can't run away and hide together. What should I do?

 

[Percheron chick]

Sounds like you need to wait a bit to combine the groups. The little ones need to be closer in size to the older group. If the roo is the only problem with combining the 2 groups at this point, the masses rule. Remove him for a month until the younger chicks are ready for him. The blind chick might not be as big a problem as you think she might be. The flock might accept her as she is just because they have been raised together. Assuring they all have plenty of room will go a long way to keeping things good.

 

[dmrussell]

I had a blind rooster, and he had a lavender orp buddy. Did we get chicks from the same breeder?! He was the sweetest chicken. My kids loved him and he could be held and even followed them around. With some care you could keep her. She may lay, after all, but probably in the run? Our hens started picking on him as they all got older because he behaved strangely. He was always scared and hiding. We had some new additions to the flock and one tried to kill him. We had to put him in a separate place. We also had to make him a water and feeder that he wouldn't knock over. He didn't dust bathe (probably didn't feel safe enough to?) ever, and we had to dust him every week. We built him a tiny roost, brought him inside in snow storms or when the weather was bad, etc. Yet, he was still just skin and bones. Not thriving. We had to cull him last week. It was so sad.