Well Ashdoes, I'm a bisquick bidscuit maker, can't help.
Was out today watching my little flock of 8: 1 BA, 1 (bully) GLW, 2 Wellies, 2 BR's, 2 Doms & 2.....wait a minute. I have 10 chickens. Hmmmm, oh yeah, I have a flock of 8, and then these 2 fraidy cat, chicken livered EEs. One of the EEs, #24, brown with a black head, so cute, looks like a little eagle sorta, well she obviously WANTS to be part of the flock. Hangs around the edges, and when the bully GLW isn't around, even intermingles somewhat. When I put treats out, she stays about 2 feet away, and if she can see an open area, darts in and grabs something, then runs away, so maybe someday I'll have a flock of 9.
Unfortunately, the other EE, #22 a pretty yellow/gray has totally given up on being part of the flock. She sometimes hangs out with #24, but only if #24 has separated herself completely from the flock. When I put out treats, #24 won't come any closer than 5', can't be enticed to get anywhere near the group. Usually she goes to an entirely different part of the run. If any other birds come near her, she runs. Even tho the only one that's really mean to her is that blasted bully GLW. She is also afraid of me. Even if I'm away from the flock and holding out treats just for her, or even standing over treats I have laid on the ground just for her, she won't come near.
I try not to make pets out of my birds, to understand that they have to make their own way, have to work within the flock dynamics, but I'm really starting to feel bad for this poor lonely bird. I had to take the bar in front of the nesting boxes down cuz she was roosting there at night by herself rather than with the other birds. Now she's on the same roost, but not close to any of the others.
SIGH
This is heart-wrenching. My RIR is a bully too, and the one she grew up with, the Blue Cochin, has learned all she has to do is look in the direction of the smallest Sussex and she will scramble away - the little one happens to also be one of the sisters with no tail (so far). Until the Sussex Sisters get enough body weight that they can't fly quite so well, I have not allowed them out to free range, but I keep hoping once they get to do so things might even out a bit more, partly because the sisters will be bigger and partly because they will gain more confidence. I truly understand the conflict between your brain telling you this is how nature works, and sometimes there is a bully and an outcast and each has to learn to fend for herself; and your heart as a chicken mama who wants all her hatchlings to be happy and healthy and fully engaged in the group dynamics. I have read one can sometimes alter the flock mentality by allowing those less confident to take over the run or the yard by removing the more dominant birds and confining them for a time, then letting them back in with the group, but I have not seen any real difference when I have tried that. I wonder if you might be doing your shy girl (or girls) a favor by locating someone only wanting a couple of chickens and starting over with new EEs. I don't know if this is a common trait for EEs, seems I have read they have widely varying personalities, with some lines very flighty and nervous and others not so much.
I am also interested in hearing how you decide to proceed with your ducks I saw a picture of black silkie bantam ducks last summer and fell in love, but until I have a really solid plan for how to keep them I can't even consider adding ducks. Have you at least benefited from improved baked goods using their eggs? I wonder if there's a heated dog bowl large enough to satisfy their water needs during winter - DH just read to me earlier tonight that Big R is having a Saturday and Sunday only sale which includes 50% off heated pet bowls.
ETA: Sorry, had you and Coloradogal combined into one person LOL - you don't have ducks!
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When they were chicks she was half there size so I think she developed a complex. None of my girls like to be held or touched but I worry about her.
