Deadly chicken behavior

[justplainbatty]

Well, not a week has gone by and Buffy has been isolated from the other 4 hens at night. She has come to know where her new resting place at night is. I let her out most all day to free range around the yard and if the others are out with her she usually hides. If I keep Cadbury in the pen she will mingle with the others but everything changes once I let Cadbury loose. I've noticed in the morning Buffy has what looks like course dry skin on her back, visible on the outer feathers and I am beginning to see more and more that her feathers on her chest seem scarce. There has not been an attack in awhile to warrant additional feather loss.

So is Buffy's poop normal now? She is eating and drinking well? Perhaps the "off" poop was just a one day thing? If Buffy is healthy and she was the original bully to Cadbury, hens keep account of transgressions. So, in this case (assuming Buffy is healthy) Cadbury has risen in the pecking order and is paying Buffy back for all she did to Cadbury before. Buffy must now submit to being lower in the order. They may never get along that well. When you introduce the new birds, the order will change again and maybe, Buffy will not be as prominent on Cadbury's radar. If Buffy is losing feathers in front, she may be getting them pulled out on the roost, pulling them out herself if she is nervous or beginning a molt. Buffy's molt (if that's what it is) could make her isolate herself as molting is uncomfortable but, from your pic, if she is molting, it's a slow/soft molt where she would not separate herself. You really need to spend a day watching your flock interact and what is going on at roost time, it's the only way to figure out what is going on. If Buffy is not accepting a lower rank and doing things like eating/drinking at the same time as Cadbury or not giving Cadbury a wide birth then Cadbury will keep physically dominating her until she learns/gives in. If Buffy is healthy, cadbury will not be able to kill her with out help from other flock mates. So, hows it going with them?

 

[amortonchick]

I'm still trying to figure out if Buffy is well. She does seem to be eating and drinking and her poop is definitely firmer now although when my daughter picked her up yesterday there was some very egg looking-runny poo which ended up all over her (pictured). Her behavior is normal and happy when she is out foraging all by her lonesome and as soon as Cadbury comes out she is hiding or her tail feathers are down. Here is a picture of what Buffy looks like in the morning with this dander like stuff on her back. I looked a little closer and it appears to be parts of her quills or calamus. Does this happen when molting is in effect? The longer I keep her isolated from the rest I fear she will have a harder time with the pecking order. When I observe the other 4 hens Cadbury is definitely not at the top. She is pecked at and forced to eat on the other side by Cora my BR and she does not bother any of the others. All is calm until Buffy is in the pen. I have not allowed Buffy to come in contact or go inside the pen or coop and she seems to steer clear. Pardon my ignorance but when you say I should watch them during their roost time do you mean anytime they are up on the roost during the day or just when settling in for the night? When I was keeping Cadbury isolated and would let her sleep inside the coop with the others she would immediately head to the coop even much before it was time and roost herself and only stir when Buffy came in (always last). I observed some pecking from the other RR when she would make any noise or get agitated by Buffy's presence. I'm so afraid to put Buffy back in and I know she is too. How long is isolating a good thing and how much time is bad for her?
Runny poo on my daughters sweatshirt and pants, nothing else came out.
This was just days ago and appears normal to me.
Buffy each morning has these white specks on her back. Looks like pieces of quill from her feathers. She shakes it off when she comes out and then I don't see it again.

 

[justplainbatty]

I was unable to enlarge the pics so I gotta guess here. If it was eggy poo she may be in trouble. She could have a broken egg inside or is becoming an internal layer or she may have egg yolk peritonitis (EYP). I would strongly recommend that you put her in a large dog crate on folded up bath towels and monitor everything she does. Her eating, drinking, pooping, egg laying or not, breathing sounds, parasites inside and out. If cadbury is fine with all the other hens, maybe something is wrong with Buffy. If so, a sick bird is a threat to the flock and the other birds will take her out if you don't help her! If one bird is seriously ill, the others may very well kill her. Maybe she is savable, maybe not. We won't know until you isolate her and do the detective work.
Take a nice pic of her back and before you submit it, choose medium size and maybe I will be able to see it or enlarge it to look at what is going on with that. Idk, if you are using a phone it might not work but if you use a digital camera it should.
I know you have a garage full of birds, can you use your master bath? That's where I have my hospital dog crate, dedicated animal towels and chicken medical supplies. If she doesn't seem to be eating well, stay with her when you feed her, they don't like to eat alone. If she doesn't seem to be pooping, take her out of the crate every few hours,put her on the tile floor, she may hold her poop like a broody bc she doesn't want to poop where she sleeps.(expect her to leave a very large poop within ten minutes or so) Keep the top of the crate covered all the time so she feels safe and drape the sides at night so where she sleeps is dark and where she has just enough light to see her food and water. Leave the bathroom light on through the night so she can see in the morning in case she wakes up before you. Let me know what you discover! Maybe we can figure it out and help her.

 

[amortonchick]

We have her in a dog crate that I added a "nest box" onto which she loves for sleeping and it is draped at night. She eats and drinks in the other section of the crate and her intake seems fine. She is outside 95% of the day and seems more than happy to be alone or visit with me when I come out to check on her. We have a house full of people with no extra bathroom to keep her in. When this all started back in the first week of March the first thing I thought was she was egg bound. She acted a little like it; stood still and seemed lethargic, she had messy butt feathers for a long time. I did warm water soaks to start and kept her in the dog crate. Her poops were definitely that of a runny substance, not whole at all. Her egg laying ceased at this time as well as Cadbury's. They have both not laid an egg in over a month now. Her breathing, eating, drinking are all good. She eats alone no problem. She is pooping in the crate (not holding it in). I have to clean in out every morning. I will read up on EYP. She may not be reintroduced until we combine the new chicks, she seems just happy with her new set up. I am concerned with how long this can go on as a solitary chicken.

 

[justplainbatty]

We have her in a dog crate that I added a "nest box" onto which she loves for sleeping and it is draped at night. She eats and drinks in the other section of the crate and her intake seems fine. She is outside 95% of the day and seems more than happy to be alone or visit with me when I come out to check on her. We have a house full of people with no extra bathroom to keep her in. When this all started back in the first week of March the first thing I thought was she was egg bound. She acted a little like it; stood still and seemed lethargic, she had messy butt feathers for a long time. I did warm water soaks to start and kept her in the dog crate. Her poops were definitely that of a runny substance, not whole at all. Her egg laying ceased at this time as well as Cadbury's. They have both not laid an egg in over a month now. Her breathing, eating, drinking are all good. She eats alone no problem. She is pooping in the crate (not holding it in). I have to clean in out every morning. I will read up on EYP. She may not be reintroduced until we combine the new chicks, she seems just happy with her new set up. I am concerned with how long this can go on as a solitary chicken.

I gotta go somewhere in a minute but I wanted to again stress vitamins. Also. if you have a dog or cat that she is friendly with and you don't think she will ever return to the coop, they make daipers for chickens. Let her be a house chicken! many people keep a house chicken and in Australia, they have done studies on the relationships between people and chickens. They recommend a chicken as a companion animal for the elderly or disabled. A chicken can't knock over an elderly person and it doesn't need to go for a walk like a dog. A chicken ca be every bit as friendly/affectionate as a cat! Just an idea.

 

[amortonchick]

I think Buffy would be all far that idea as for my husband I think I know what he would say...'he's heard everything now'. Ha ha. As of today the new chicks (6 weeks old) are experiencing the outdoors in their new daytime home while the older girls are given a chance to see them before they all come together. Segregated of course. Today I couldn't get Buffy to leave the garage and just let her go where she wanted since the chicks were out. She had a great time exploring the front while all the doors were open and I was cleaning the brooder box. She even found a place to lay down in the garage and look as if she was sunning herself. Again, she is eating and drinking just fine but doesn't want to leave the safety of the garage. Any sign or sound of Cadbury outside the back door and she stops what she is doing and hangs her tail feathers low. I sure wish I could speak chicken and find out what is going on between the two of them.

I took a closer picture of the stuff on her back. It appeared after she was doing her sunning and preening (in the shade of the garage) but hopefully you can see it better than the other pic. It is not bugs or dry skin but the outer part of the quill. I've looked down in through her feathers and I don't see much of anything.



Here are the other four girls, Cadbury on the far right. If you notice she is standing back while the others pick at the food that spilled. Cora bumps or pecks her out of the way and makes her wait. I would say Cadbury is at the bottom of the pecking order in this group of 4.

 

[justplainbatty]

I still couldn't enlarge he pics.

It looks like pine litter to me, as if she has dust bathed in it and then shook it out later. She probably was sunning herself. If it really looks like quill bits, if she had a molt (even a soft one you didn't notice) it may be the sheaths from new down feathers under the hard feathers. Does this seem like a possibility to you?
Maybe Cadbury is the lowest of the other four and therefore takes all her aggression out on Buffy. Since Cora pecks Cadbury away from food, I think you are right. If there was no pecking by anyone and Cadbury was waiting, I would say she was top hen acting as guard rooster while the others eat.
Maybe after the young chickens are fully integrated, Buffy could go back to the flock with out Cadbury taking so much issue with her or, you got yourself a house chicken!

ETA: Yes! You said it appeared after sunning and preening. That means it 's probably a little dead skin and feather sheaths she is pulling off of new feathers!

 

[Free Feather]

I would not cut the bully's beak. Some say that it does not hurt, and is like trimming fingernails, but that is total crap. It hurts them. I had a silkie rooster get just a bit of his beak clipped off when he was hit by a car, and he was in pain. Besides that case, like with Battery Hens, it hurts. I would not try it.

 

[justplainbatty]

I would not cut the bully's beak. Some say that it does not hurt, and is like trimming fingernails, but that is total crap. It hurts them. I had a silkie rooster get just a bit of his beak clipped off when he was hit by a car, and he was in pain. Besides that case, like with Battery Hens, it hurts. I would not try it.

No one said anything about beak cutting like commercial operations do. I merely suggested trimming it. Flattening the point which, will grow back, and the whole idea, is a little tenderness of the beak for behavioral modification. You can't talk to a chicken about bad behavior and you can't give it a spanking. So if you trim a bully bird's beak, the consequence is "ow, it hurts when I peck hard, I can't be doing that"! So far, we are getting Buffy taken care of with out doing that to the other hen.

@amortonchick How is Buffy today?

 

[amortonchick]

There is lots of activity outside today and she follows us everywhere. The others were outside for a bit and Cadury put the run on Buffy. This time she flew up high away from her attacker. She was quite nervous after that and her poo is pretty runny today which is a switch from the last week or so. My husband was in with the 6 week old chicks and decided to let Buffy inside with them. It was funny to watch the little ones investigate and Buffy show a little bossiness. It was only for a couple of minutes but maybe it will help her ego. At this point we felt it couldn't hurt. We are supposed to get a storm and some rain in the next day or two so not sure where Buffy will be. Cooped up in the dog crate all day is not an option and the garage unattended worries me. That big question... Is she sick or not??