I have 3 roos and 9 hens, all about 22 weeks that have been raised together. They live in a 8x8 coop with an attached 8x8 run. They free range about 3 hours a day average. While I know in my heart that all but 1 roo is going to have re-home, I have been trying to convince myself that maybe they can get along.
I have seen some of the black scabs and was just coming on here to see what this could be and BAM...now I know its from fighting. I haven't personally seen any fighting, so I didn't even connect to that. After sitting out watching my chickens for about 30m, I think I may have found the source of the black scabs. To my amazement it looks as if its coming from one of my California White Leghorn hens! I saw some major stare downs and my dominant rooster kept getting in between them as if trying to separate them. Is is normal for the fighting to be between the hens? Is that just part of the pecking order or is something else going on there? While taking inventory on who has the scabs on the comb and who doesn't I found that mostly the hens had scabs, the white leghorns having the most serious. My roosters have only small minor scabs. Could the extra roos be making or causing the fighting among the hens? Any advice would be appreciated.
Also the bottom picture is of my Japanese black tailed bantam roo "Romeo". If you look closely you can see the tinted blue tips on the back of his comb. From an old thread I saw this could be from respiratory problems or frost bite. The temp here doesn't get below 60 degrees at night. The coop is sealed tight with multiple air vents and a window kept cracked open. The other funny thing is that it will be this color and then later completely red and healthy looking again. Any ideas on that?
Thank in advance for any help!
Nichole
This is one of my California White Leghorns- you cannot barely see the scabs, but they are there.
My Romeo. Tinted blueish tips towards the back with a small scab in the middle of the comb. Tinted blue will come an go.
I have seen some of the black scabs and was just coming on here to see what this could be and BAM...now I know its from fighting. I haven't personally seen any fighting, so I didn't even connect to that. After sitting out watching my chickens for about 30m, I think I may have found the source of the black scabs. To my amazement it looks as if its coming from one of my California White Leghorn hens! I saw some major stare downs and my dominant rooster kept getting in between them as if trying to separate them. Is is normal for the fighting to be between the hens? Is that just part of the pecking order or is something else going on there? While taking inventory on who has the scabs on the comb and who doesn't I found that mostly the hens had scabs, the white leghorns having the most serious. My roosters have only small minor scabs. Could the extra roos be making or causing the fighting among the hens? Any advice would be appreciated.
Also the bottom picture is of my Japanese black tailed bantam roo "Romeo". If you look closely you can see the tinted blue tips on the back of his comb. From an old thread I saw this could be from respiratory problems or frost bite. The temp here doesn't get below 60 degrees at night. The coop is sealed tight with multiple air vents and a window kept cracked open. The other funny thing is that it will be this color and then later completely red and healthy looking again. Any ideas on that?
Thank in advance for any help!
Nichole
This is one of my California White Leghorns- you cannot barely see the scabs, but they are there.
My Romeo. Tinted blueish tips towards the back with a small scab in the middle of the comb. Tinted blue will come an go.
