Canadian Chickens
In the Brooder
Hello,
Very new to the chicken world. We started with 9 Rhode Island Reds. Unfortunately, lost one to a hawk in the spring. Now 8 remain.
There must be bullying in our coop, but cannot find the culprits! Some look pretty rough with missing feathers and most have their tails snipped short. We never find feathers laying around and changed their roost set up to prevent further feather plucking. I even installed a camera inside the coop to figure it out. Still.... no evidence. I am at a loss.
This all started at the end of the winter and the ladies missing feathers still look the same after months and have not grown any feathers back. Is this normal to take so long for the feathers to come back?
I have built a bird jail to remove the bully, but have had no luck to figuring it out!
Furthermore, we have recently introduced two young new birds. They were quarantined and then introduced by a separated coop and seperate outside run, but both area were able to be seen only by older flock. Now they are all together.
The older girls chase the younger ones and do not let them eat spread out treats. I believe one new is a cockerel and the other pullet.
At night the younger chickens (10 weeks) curl up in a corner and the older hens on the roosts. Everyone has a choice to go to a completely separate coop area with all the same amenities, but choose to stay all together. This all confuses me.
I am considering removing multiple (4 or 5) older hens into the bird jail (it is pretty big area) for a while and let the younger ones have less bullies to worry about.
Any thoughts.....
Very new to the chicken world. We started with 9 Rhode Island Reds. Unfortunately, lost one to a hawk in the spring. Now 8 remain.
There must be bullying in our coop, but cannot find the culprits! Some look pretty rough with missing feathers and most have their tails snipped short. We never find feathers laying around and changed their roost set up to prevent further feather plucking. I even installed a camera inside the coop to figure it out. Still.... no evidence. I am at a loss.
This all started at the end of the winter and the ladies missing feathers still look the same after months and have not grown any feathers back. Is this normal to take so long for the feathers to come back?
I have built a bird jail to remove the bully, but have had no luck to figuring it out!
Furthermore, we have recently introduced two young new birds. They were quarantined and then introduced by a separated coop and seperate outside run, but both area were able to be seen only by older flock. Now they are all together.
The older girls chase the younger ones and do not let them eat spread out treats. I believe one new is a cockerel and the other pullet.
At night the younger chickens (10 weeks) curl up in a corner and the older hens on the roosts. Everyone has a choice to go to a completely separate coop area with all the same amenities, but choose to stay all together. This all confuses me.
I am considering removing multiple (4 or 5) older hens into the bird jail (it is pretty big area) for a while and let the younger ones have less bullies to worry about.
Any thoughts.....