OKusmcChckens
In the Brooder
When I opened up the coop this morning I had a dead chicken.
About two weeks ago I got two new (for me) chickens from a good friend. The are standard size and about 6 months old. One is laying, the other is not. I know the conditions the chicken came from (very well cared for) so I wasn't worried about disease, worms, ect., but I still kept them separate for a week while I watched the two new ones. They seemed healthy.
I then started letting them free range with my four 2 year old chickens. There was definitely some pecking order stuff going on and the lead hen was keeping the two new ones away from where they were eating, but no blood and no piling on.
After several days of free ranging I put the new chickens in the coop with the older ones after they went to roost. No problem except the new ones were trying to sleep in the nesting box which I then closed off at night. The next night they all went into the main coop together on their own when it got dark. Seemed all was going well for a few nights.
This morning the "junior ranking" older hen was dead under the roost (only about a foot down on the poop tray. I found one small blood spot on her comb, but no other injuries I could see.
Do I have chicken war going on that will result in more dead (and defeat the purpose of adding chickens) or something else? Here is a picture of my coop (one when it was under construction where you can see the roosts) so you can see how much space I have for (now) five chickens.
Thanks, Scott
About two weeks ago I got two new (for me) chickens from a good friend. The are standard size and about 6 months old. One is laying, the other is not. I know the conditions the chicken came from (very well cared for) so I wasn't worried about disease, worms, ect., but I still kept them separate for a week while I watched the two new ones. They seemed healthy.
I then started letting them free range with my four 2 year old chickens. There was definitely some pecking order stuff going on and the lead hen was keeping the two new ones away from where they were eating, but no blood and no piling on.
After several days of free ranging I put the new chickens in the coop with the older ones after they went to roost. No problem except the new ones were trying to sleep in the nesting box which I then closed off at night. The next night they all went into the main coop together on their own when it got dark. Seemed all was going well for a few nights.
This morning the "junior ranking" older hen was dead under the roost (only about a foot down on the poop tray. I found one small blood spot on her comb, but no other injuries I could see.
Do I have chicken war going on that will result in more dead (and defeat the purpose of adding chickens) or something else? Here is a picture of my coop (one when it was under construction where you can see the roosts) so you can see how much space I have for (now) five chickens.
Thanks, Scott
