22ChickenNuggets
Songster
- Mar 11, 2021
- 96
- 93
- 106
As a lot of you know (or maybe not) I’m a new chicken owner this year. My girls and roo are almost 7 months old. And I’ve been through hell, loosing one, bumblefoot, eye issues, yes I know it’s common. But I’m wondering if anyone can help me because maybe I’m over reacting, or maybe I’m not. I have a flock of 21. Consisting of Red stars, black stars, Easter eggers, 2 polish, and black giants and 1 Cochin Roo. At night when they coop up for bedtime, I feel like it’s a chaotic mess, now I know pecking order, maybe i don’t understand it well enough and them being 7 months old i thought they would have it figured out. But I have found that a couple birds might be bullies. My poor polish are petrified to go into the coop at night because they get beat up (no blood) and a couple EE’s get beat on too. Now I have enough roost bar space, the roost bars aren’t a ladder system they are all the same height. I find myself going out at bedtime and sitting in the coop making sure the lower ladies don’t get pushed around, and it’s gotten to the point my polish will actually run to me when they come in because they are scared. I feel like I created an issue, because I’m too emotional when it comes to things (horrible character flaw) but back to what I think is bullying. I have 1 black star who will sit by the door and Tag the lower ranking girls as they come in and chase them though the coop. The screams get me every time and I immediately stop her. But then as they are roosting it goes back to the point where some of them get bullied off the bars again. There has been times that the scared birds have actually pushed my roo off the roost because they are trying to get away from getting their ass kicked. He’s a big boy I’m scared he’s gonna hurt himself. But I’m just trying to figure out if my emotional character flaw is causing this chaos? Did I mess up my birds pecking order thinking it was bullying. At 7 months old will it correct itself? does it ever just calm down or is this going to be this much of a hot mess? Can someone maybe explain pecking order vs. bullying to me? Did I ruin my birds by being a “helicopter mom” If I did I feel like I failed as a chicken owner thus far. And it makes me sad for my birds. I just want peace in the coop. I want to be able to leave over night without worrying that something is going to happen. Please help!