Girls are "hair-pulling"

[GrannyHeeney]

I'm determined to learn as much as I can, as quickly as I can, so I watch these 2 clowns pretty closely. Poor little Dumpling is missing a lot of the feathers on her head; when they roost beside each other at night, Scrambled will occasionally reach over and yank on Dumpling's head feathers, and Dumpling doesn't try to move away or defend herself at all. It almost seems like the little weirdo is enjoying it! I've been over it repeatedly and can't think of anything to do other than separate them at night, but since there's only 2 and they've been together since hatching...meh. :-/ My question is just whether this is common. Do y'all see many partly-bald girls? I hear that BRs get pretty rough with each other, but what about the other breeds? (Or is Scrambled just a hair-pulling little fruitcake LOL)

 

[GrannyHeeney]

PS: There were originally 4 BRs and a psychotic Comet cross roo named Leroy--lost Poached to a skunk, Rotisserie to a ginormous millipede and Leroy was removed for the safety of all humans involved. :-o

 

[Chickassan]

Yeah, all girls do that pecking and pulling at bedtime. If it gets too bad put a little divider between them at night, doesn't have to be fancy I used a pizza box top for a while.

 

[Pork Pie]

Maybe read this links - feather pecking is an issue that needs to be addressed at its root.

http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-much-room-do-chickens-need

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1148824/topic-of-the-week-feather-pecking-eating

 

[GrannyHeeney]

Ooh, hearing similar stuff in those articles... My table scrap snacks are actually important for protein, yay! Seems I was subconsciously shying away from giving them much meat; it hadn't occurred to me that they, uh, EAT BUGS, which are meat/protein. LOL This has been amended and I started by giving the pair leftover spaghetti for their morning snack. Thanks everyone!

 

[GrannyHeeney]

RESULTS: I just took the girls out a cup of grits. They had eaten all the noodles out of their spaghetti and are now working on the meaty bits--absolutely no interest in the grits. Seems like nature just backed up the protein argument. LOL When I still had the full crew of 7 about 2 mos ago, I should have been tipped off to this when they were chasing each other around the pen with hot dogs in their mouths. Oh, and you ain't seen anything funny until you've seen chickens playing keep-away with hot dogs. ROFL

 

[Chickassan]

Don't read too far into it, a pefectly protein supplied hen will still take your arm off for a hotdog. You really do need to get those girls some company, with just the two you're always going to have some sort of henpecking drama going on.

 

[GrannyHeeney]

Don't read too far into it, a pefectly protein supplied hen will still take your arm off for a hotdog. You really do need to get those girls some company, with just the two you're always going to have some sort of henpecking drama going on.

LOL @ the hot dogs Yah, I did consider that, and ain't it funny that the term "hen-pecked" is so ingrained in our language! Well, my birthday's the 12th and a little birdie (LOL) told me that I'm to be escorted to the Tooter Town auction that evening to perhaps browse for chickies. Never been there, no idea what to expect, but we've heard there's chickens there.

 

[Chickassan]

Well I hope you get some fine hens for your birthday! I bet your little bald girl does too.

LOL @ the hot dogs Yah, I did consider that, and ain't it funny that the term "hen-pecked" is so ingrained in our language! Well, my birthday's the 12th and a little birdie (LOL) told me that I'm to be escorted to the Tooter Town auction that evening to perhaps browse for chickies. Never been there, no idea what to expect, but we've heard there's chickens there.

 

[aart]

My table scrap snacks are actually important for protein, yay!

Well, that depends... on what the scraps are and what your regular feed ration is.
Too many scraps can dilute the essentials in the feed.