Broody Mama has gone absolutely loco! We took our small coop and run and divided it in half (making it a duplex) Broody and her six adopted chicks in one side and the older chicks in the other. Broody Mama would go after the older chicks and the dividing wall (temporary) seemed to calm everything down...until....three days ago my hubby hears a commotion outside and finds that Broody Mama has figured out how to knock over the wall and was attacking one of the BO chicks, the two Brahma chicks of the same age were trying to defend their BO sister, the other two BO chicks were cowering in the corner under the lawn chair! Broody Mamas chicks were huddled in a corner staring at Mama like "who ticked her off". In the scuffle both waterers were knocked over and both food containers were upended. My Hubby managed to get ahold of Broody Mama and hooped her back in the large pen with her hatch sisters. They were not thrilled to see her either! Gertrude promptly chased her to a corner and anytime she tried to move Gertrude reminded her whose boss of that coop! We're keeping the small coop divided for right now, the six babies seem to be fine...nosey, but fine! lol...The older chicks have been amazing to watch. The injured BO had some bleeding on the back off her neck which we've been spraying with medicine. At this point We're out of room everywhere and have no place to isolate her, so instead we pray over the coops every night, that everybody behaves! At night the older chicks huddle up in a pile with the injured BO in the middle a BO sister on each side and the two Brahmas sort of on top with their wings stretched out covering the BO's! The corner they curl up in is on the other side of the wall from where the babies are huddled up, If I remove the wall they would be in one big heap together! The injured BO appears to be healing quite well, so I'm hoping in about a week to try and remove the dividing wall in the run and see if everyone will play nicely in the run. I'll leave the coop itself divided for now so if I need to quickly seperate I can! Meanwhile back in the big coop....Gertrude is firmly in charge and Lala has her back, Broody Mama has seemed to calm down (her feathers have unfluffed) and the flock is a least letting her eat and drink and participate in foraging in the run. She is not however allowed on the roosting ladders, She is roosting on the 2 x 4 at the end of the nest box row ( where her broody nest used to be) I haven't put that nestbox back in because I don't want her sleeping in it!
When the new chicks are old enough to start laying sometime in September to October, we were planning on culling our 5 leghorns. I'm now seriously considering culling the 4 Red Comets as well. All of my one year olds have become more Aggressive, and I'm liking the temperments of the new birds much better. I'm also concerned that I will never be able to combine the two flocks which would cause more issues space wise (ie financially).......things to consider..........
When the new chicks are old enough to start laying sometime in September to October, we were planning on culling our 5 leghorns. I'm now seriously considering culling the 4 Red Comets as well. All of my one year olds have become more Aggressive, and I'm liking the temperments of the new birds much better. I'm also concerned that I will never be able to combine the two flocks which would cause more issues space wise (ie financially).......things to consider..........
