kimanndurr
In the Brooder
- Mar 8, 2022
- 10
- 3
- 24
I know there are countless threads in bullying, but I haven’t been able to find a similar issue yet. I apologize in advance for the long post, I feel the backstory information may be important!
We have a flock of 7 chickens that have a large enough coop and run, and they free range during the day. They are fed a balanced layer feed.
Dorothy, the poor girl getting picked on, has quite the backstory. We got her from a rescue in September of 2022. She was immediately at the bottom of the pecking order and very skittish. At the end of October, a fox attacked our flock, killing two and severely injuring Dorothy. She made an amazing recovery, but had lost all the feathers on her hind quarters. After she had healed, we reintroduced her to the flock, but of course her absence had only made things worse for her.
Since then, she has had wonky feathers and I thought that the trauma from the attack and the loss of feathers were to blame, and I’ve assumed she would grow fresh feathers after this year’s molt. Now I think it is a combination of those things and being bullied. The issue is that I don’t actually see her being bullied! I do see the normal chasing and occasional peck, but nothing out of control. Her feathers seem like they have been pecked at (bare on the ends) and she now has some bald spots on the tops of her wings.
I would love advice! Have any of you dealt with strange feather regrowth after trauma? Do you have recommendations to figuring out who the bully is? Should I separate her again and let her feather regrow before reintroducing her?!
Thanks in advance!
We have a flock of 7 chickens that have a large enough coop and run, and they free range during the day. They are fed a balanced layer feed.
Dorothy, the poor girl getting picked on, has quite the backstory. We got her from a rescue in September of 2022. She was immediately at the bottom of the pecking order and very skittish. At the end of October, a fox attacked our flock, killing two and severely injuring Dorothy. She made an amazing recovery, but had lost all the feathers on her hind quarters. After she had healed, we reintroduced her to the flock, but of course her absence had only made things worse for her.
Since then, she has had wonky feathers and I thought that the trauma from the attack and the loss of feathers were to blame, and I’ve assumed she would grow fresh feathers after this year’s molt. Now I think it is a combination of those things and being bullied. The issue is that I don’t actually see her being bullied! I do see the normal chasing and occasional peck, but nothing out of control. Her feathers seem like they have been pecked at (bare on the ends) and she now has some bald spots on the tops of her wings.
I would love advice! Have any of you dealt with strange feather regrowth after trauma? Do you have recommendations to figuring out who the bully is? Should I separate her again and let her feather regrow before reintroducing her?!
Thanks in advance!
