I'm a new chicken owner and have had my 2 Isa browns for 3 months now. They are 7months old and we live in the inner city suburbs. I've left their door open during the night for a week stupidly thinking that there's no predators so close to town and the cats in the neighborhood are the same size as our chooks.
3 days ago a cat got in and attached one of my hens and freaked out the other one. My bedroom is 5metres away from the coop so when I heard the commotion at 4:30am, I ran out and put the injured hen into a box. Both hens were distressing.
I've separated the 2 hens during the day as the other hen keeps picking at the injured hens chest feathers where the feathers have a hint of dry blood. They have 10square metres but she keeps following her to peak at her wound. I also lock them in so there's no way anything can get into the coop at nights.
3 nights after the attack at 4:30am (same time), I heard the chooks scream and flutter. I came out within 5 seconds and saw nothing but freaked out chickens trying to get out of the coop. I separated them by putting the injured one in a box inside and left the other in the coop run. The coop hen was distressed for a good hour, even with treat bribes, and then sat in her run rather than going back into her coop.
1. Do chickens have nightmares? Even if the cat is around, there was no way for the cat to get in or the hens to see it.
2. How do I stop them from getting so distressed?
3. How do I stop the non injured hen from peaking at the injured hen's wound and pulling out her feathers whenever she's close? How long before she stops that?
3 days ago a cat got in and attached one of my hens and freaked out the other one. My bedroom is 5metres away from the coop so when I heard the commotion at 4:30am, I ran out and put the injured hen into a box. Both hens were distressing.
I've separated the 2 hens during the day as the other hen keeps picking at the injured hens chest feathers where the feathers have a hint of dry blood. They have 10square metres but she keeps following her to peak at her wound. I also lock them in so there's no way anything can get into the coop at nights.
3 nights after the attack at 4:30am (same time), I heard the chooks scream and flutter. I came out within 5 seconds and saw nothing but freaked out chickens trying to get out of the coop. I separated them by putting the injured one in a box inside and left the other in the coop run. The coop hen was distressed for a good hour, even with treat bribes, and then sat in her run rather than going back into her coop.
1. Do chickens have nightmares? Even if the cat is around, there was no way for the cat to get in or the hens to see it.
2. How do I stop them from getting so distressed?
3. How do I stop the non injured hen from peaking at the injured hen's wound and pulling out her feathers whenever she's close? How long before she stops that?
