I have 5 hens: 1 RIR, 2 Dominiques, 1 Barred Plymouth Rock, and 1 Silkie Bantam. They have all been together from day one (last May) and were the best of friends until this long cold and snowy winter bore down upon us.
The Silkie has gone broody twice, and all of them, except for the Barred Rock have no butt fluff at all.
The Silkie seems to have suffered the most feather picking damage (no butt fluff, and missing lots of tail feathers), and after hiding out in the nest box (broody) for a while, the others became quite aggressive toward her.
I brought her in the house (in a converted dog kennel cage) for her wounds to heal and for some feathers to grow back.
In the meantime, I tried blu-kote, Rooster Booster Pick-no-more, and Black Salve on the others' behinds, to no avail. Their feathers start to grow, and then dissappear. I have never seen them pick on each other (only on the silkie). Again , the Barred Rock has all her feathers in tact.
I suspected that the Barred Rock was the bully, as she has all her feathers, but I have never seen her peck at anyone except the Silkie. BTW, I have see ALL of them peck at the Silkie, and the RIR is by far the most aggressive.
The Silkie's wounds healed up just fine, and she had quite a bit of feather re-growth. She started laying eggs again (in the house), so I determined it was time to reintroduce her to her "friends".
I have been letting her free-range with them for about an hour each day for a week. I thought they were making progress, as yesteday they allowed her to take a dust bath with them. Last night I let her sleep with them, but this morning her tail had been pecked bloody again.
Having said all that (kind of long, sorry), here are my questions:
1. Is there a better way to reintroduce her to the others?
2. Is it possible that hens will pick out their own butt fluff? (I did notice that after I applied the blu-kote, they all had blue beaks - even the Barred Rock, although I didn't see any pecking)
3. Is there a chance that this dilemma will resolve itself come warmer weather and more free-range time?
4. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions that could help in any way???!!!
Please Help!!!! I don't think I can live with a live chicken in my kitchen for much longer!!!!
The Silkie has gone broody twice, and all of them, except for the Barred Rock have no butt fluff at all.
The Silkie seems to have suffered the most feather picking damage (no butt fluff, and missing lots of tail feathers), and after hiding out in the nest box (broody) for a while, the others became quite aggressive toward her.
I brought her in the house (in a converted dog kennel cage) for her wounds to heal and for some feathers to grow back.
In the meantime, I tried blu-kote, Rooster Booster Pick-no-more, and Black Salve on the others' behinds, to no avail. Their feathers start to grow, and then dissappear. I have never seen them pick on each other (only on the silkie). Again , the Barred Rock has all her feathers in tact.
I suspected that the Barred Rock was the bully, as she has all her feathers, but I have never seen her peck at anyone except the Silkie. BTW, I have see ALL of them peck at the Silkie, and the RIR is by far the most aggressive.
The Silkie's wounds healed up just fine, and she had quite a bit of feather re-growth. She started laying eggs again (in the house), so I determined it was time to reintroduce her to her "friends".
I have been letting her free-range with them for about an hour each day for a week. I thought they were making progress, as yesteday they allowed her to take a dust bath with them. Last night I let her sleep with them, but this morning her tail had been pecked bloody again.
Having said all that (kind of long, sorry), here are my questions:
1. Is there a better way to reintroduce her to the others?
2. Is it possible that hens will pick out their own butt fluff? (I did notice that after I applied the blu-kote, they all had blue beaks - even the Barred Rock, although I didn't see any pecking)
3. Is there a chance that this dilemma will resolve itself come warmer weather and more free-range time?
4. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions that could help in any way???!!!
Please Help!!!! I don't think I can live with a live chicken in my kitchen for much longer!!!!