Hard questions about feral hen/runt chick

[aart]

IIRC, you 'acquired' this bird when she showed up in your yard within the last year?
Was the male also a stray and showed up at the same time?
Have you ever had other adult birds in your 'flock'?
She may calm down once the youngsters reach laying age.
Are there a lot of feral chickens in your area...or was this bird and her mate dumped?

 

[Futuregreenefarm]

@aart If I take a pic of the homemade A-frame would you or someone else be able to tell me how to improve on it to make roost time more tolerable.
No, the younger ones are not laying yet. They are 19 weeks almost. How much longer before you think they can work all this out if they can at all??

 

[aart]

@aart If I take a pic of the homemade A-frame would you or someone else be able to tell me how to improve on it to make roost time more tolerable.

Yep, sure could. Include dimensions of coop and run, please.

No, the younger ones are not laying yet. They are 19 weeks almost. How much longer before you think they can work all this out if they can at all??

No way to tell. I would think at 19 weeks they could be close.
Here's some tips on how to tell....
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/who-is-laying-and-who-is-not-butt-check.73309/

 

[Futuregreenefarm]

The neighborhood has a few loose chickens, yes. But I know what chicken belongs where. That's why I keep mine enclosed in a run. The original rooster belonged to a neighbor/family member and he went somewhere and brought the hen back (family member never claimed her). I had no chickens at the time. The hen left again and came back to my yard with chicks in the spring. I asked for and claimed the chicks. They didn't want them. That's my 3 older pullets. The hen went back to the rooster. This fall she hatched 5 more in my yard and while she sat, the original rooster went missing and is no longer in the picture. I took in the chicks and her thinking she might leave again but I hoped she would just stay and be okay. And she has for awhile until the chicks are older now. The cockerel is her son who is 19 weeks now. He doesn't mate her but the older pullets and I think this makes her mad too. She's constantly pecking both of them when he mates. It appears she wants a rooster to herself and no other hens around to contend with? Is that possible or am I reading that all wrong??

 

[aart]

At those ages it's a tumultuous mix.....she's fed up with all the 'teenagers'.
I think things will calm down once the youngers mature further.

Chicken society is not always a harmonious thing and can be shockingly violent.
As long as everyone gets to eat and drink, no copious blood is drawn, and no one is being pinned down and beaten unmercilessly.
Give them lots of space, feed/water stations, and 'hiding' places and let them work it out.

 

[so lucky]

I know how horrible it sounds when chickens are bickering, knocking each other off the roost, screeching and thumping the walls. Usually, the sound is much worse than the actual goings-on inside. If they are not drawing blood, they will probably sort it out. Just plug your ears and turn away, lol.
If someone does draw blood, use blu-kote to color the wound purple so they don't keep pecking at it.

 

[Futuregreenefarm]

So here is my A-frame.

 

[Futuregreenefarm]

The bars are the only thing in it. The bars are right at 2-1/2 to 3 foot long. We built it with the scrap material we had at the time because we knew we had a hen and 5 chicks coming to live there and didn't want to have to put them in the prefab with the older pullets.

 

[Diana_burns04]

No I'm not, but she's beautiful!! I live far away!! I don't have hens right now! I have bunnies!!

 

[aart]

View attachment 1996890 View attachment 1996892 View attachment 1996893
The bars are the only thing in it. The bars are right at 2-1/2 to 3 foot long. We built it with the scrap material we had at the time because we knew we had a hen and 5 chicks coming to live there and didn't want to have to put them in the prefab with the older pullets.

I think they are going to need more room.
If you plan on keeping all these birds and probably hatching more you might want to think about building a larger coop that all will fit in with room for more, and save the other two coops as isolation coops.