An update on my traumatized Barred Rock pullet.
She spent two days in the "upstairs", roosting area of the tractor, and not eating much. The third day, she was mostly outside with the other chickens, but less active. The fourth day she again mostly stayed in the tractor, but in the ground-level part. Fifth day, it rained and all the chickens were confined to the tractor most of the day. By the next day and after, she seemed mostly recovered, spending most of her time galivanting with the other chickens and eating her normal amount. My impression is that she was recovering from minor physical injuries, because there seemed to be some slight difficulty moving (althought that has now largely resolved). At no point did there seem to be a problem of the other chickens being agressive towards her, and actually, the rainy day when they were all confined together coincided with her rcovery.
I did notice that after this incident, all the chickens seemed to become a bit more vigilant. There has been more alarm-call vocalizing, more neck-stretching, and more time spent on tree branches. They have also been more cohesive as a flock. The first day afterwards, the Buff Orpington encountered a cat and started making a sound that we at first thought was the quacking of a duck while the others gathered as though they were confering about how to respond to this new threat. If they are going to free-range, it is probably a good thing that they are now watching out for dangers.
Friendly greetings to all,
Poppy
She spent two days in the "upstairs", roosting area of the tractor, and not eating much. The third day, she was mostly outside with the other chickens, but less active. The fourth day she again mostly stayed in the tractor, but in the ground-level part. Fifth day, it rained and all the chickens were confined to the tractor most of the day. By the next day and after, she seemed mostly recovered, spending most of her time galivanting with the other chickens and eating her normal amount. My impression is that she was recovering from minor physical injuries, because there seemed to be some slight difficulty moving (althought that has now largely resolved). At no point did there seem to be a problem of the other chickens being agressive towards her, and actually, the rainy day when they were all confined together coincided with her rcovery.
I did notice that after this incident, all the chickens seemed to become a bit more vigilant. There has been more alarm-call vocalizing, more neck-stretching, and more time spent on tree branches. They have also been more cohesive as a flock. The first day afterwards, the Buff Orpington encountered a cat and started making a sound that we at first thought was the quacking of a duck while the others gathered as though they were confering about how to respond to this new threat. If they are going to free-range, it is probably a good thing that they are now watching out for dangers.
Friendly greetings to all,
Poppy
