FLORIDA!!!!!ALWAYS SUNNY SIDE UP!!!

[wayne813]

yeah its a little cooler here to

 

[K9Flier]

I have a question about the heritage BR I got from you, Stan. I have been trying for over a month now to integrate her in with the rest of my hens. I had no problems with the Australorp or the EE I got from you. But even the Australorpe that came with her picks on her.

Am I destined to build her her own coop (that I really don't have the money to build)? Right now she lives in a 4x4 dog pen that I put in the run, so she is safe from predators and safe from the other hens but they can see her. I put plastic panels on the top of the pen to keep the rain off her.

I tried putting her in the coop at night and by the time I got out there the next morning, they had pecked out her tail feathers and she was bloody on her tail end. She is now back in her pen alone. I'm just worried she will get chilled at night. Right now she only has a 5 gallon bucket with hay to sleep in.

What do I do now?

 

[tigercreek]

I think you have done just about all you can do. The only suggestion I have is to try to put the least agressive hen in with her, and maybe add another later. You might also try to move the most agressive out if you have another place to put her. I would not worry about her getting cold, They are very hardy, and will tolerate freezing temps as long as they are protected from wind and rain. I'll be glad to send you a refund if that dosen't work if you can find someone to take her. I know what a pain it is to have multiple feed and water dishes to take care of. The others must be jealous of her good looks. ..........stan

 

[tigercreek]

One thing I forgot to mention - If the other hens see any blood, they will be relentless. You should get some 'wound coat' from Tractor Supply and spray the area. You can find it in the horse medication asile. I'm so sorry this is going on, hope something helps......stan

 

[K9Flier]

First of all, there's no need for a refund. Who knew something like this would happen, but I do appreciate the offer.

I wish I could tell which hen was the most dominant or least dominant. They ALL pick on her. Thats why i got more than one hen. i thought the integration would go better. She's still has that dinosaur look about her and is mighty bedraggled right now. I did get some anti-peck and cover up stuff at TSC Wednesday. She gets around any of the other hens and just starts running around willy nilly like the sky was falling. It's the strangest thing I've ever seen.

It sure is making me think twice about getting any more hens though.

 

[litmisredneck]

Greetings from Collier County!

Thanks!

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

K9 have you thought about trying pinless peepers?

 

[cmom]

First of all, there's no need for a refund. Who knew something like this would happen, but I do appreciate the offer.

I wish I could tell which hen was the most dominant or least dominant. They ALL pick on her. Thats why i got more than one hen. i thought the integration would go better. She's still has that dinosaur look about her and is mighty bedraggled right now. I did get some anti-peck and cover up stuff at TSC Wednesday. She gets around any of the other hens and just starts running around willy nilly like the sky was falling. It's the strangest thing I've ever seen.

It sure is making me think twice about getting any more hens though.

Do you let them free range together? When I was integrating my pullets with the rest of my flock, had two hens that were bullies. I caught one hen really wailing away on one of the pullets. I thought my bully was going to kill the pullet the way she was on top of her wailing away at her. Originally I did take the bullies out of the flock for about a week. When I did put them back with the flock one was ok but the other was still being a real bully so I took her back out and put her back in jail for another week then let her back in with the flock and she started in again. She was so intent on beating up a pullet that she didn't know I was there. I had a hose in my hand and gave her a good squirt with the hose. She wasn't expecting it as she was really into beating up the pullet. Boy did she ever jump off when she got hit with the water. She ran into the coop and didn't come back out for a long time. I caught her a few more times and always had the hose handy and squirted her when she was being aggressive. She eventually quit bullying. That is when I used the hose and caught her off guard. I guess she eventually knew if she kept it up she would get squirted. She would block the pop door and keep the pullets out so they couldn't get to the feed. I put a second pop door in the coop and another feeder out in their run. She couldn't guard both pop doors and feeders.
Also I re-introduced them in the yard so the ones being picked on could run away. Also I spread out plenty of treats so the treats would hopefully be a distraction. Usually there is an alpha who starts things. Once the alpha starts the others will join in. If you can find out which one is the alpha try taking her out for a few days.

 

[K9Flier]

I was letting them free range together but it was a pain getting her back inside because she was so afraid of going into the run with the other hens. Since her bottom is bare, she is confined to her pen, at least until I can stay outside with them and try to figure out who the instigator is.

I'm just going to build a higher pen with a real door that I don't have to squat to get through.

 

[Brookhavens]

I have a favor to ask... I picked up a GQF 1502 incubator over the weekend. It is the older wooden model with the wafer thermostat, not the new white, digital one. Living in Florida with our crazy humidity I was wondering if anyone who uses this model to hatch can give me some pointers on what the humidity should be during Days 1-18 and then what should I up it to for lockdown. Is it the same as using a smaller incubator? The very first hatch I did in my homemade incubator I did by the book and had soaking wet chicks and drowned a few too. After that I switched to the dry hatch method. Day 1-18 humidity was mid to high 30's and then 55-60% during lockdown. Chicks were damp, fluffed up within a few hours and my hatch rate greatly improved. I would like to continue using the dry hatch method and any info would be appreciated.