sophie90
In the Brooder
I’ll try to keep this as short as possible so not to waffle, but don’t want to miss out any details!
I had a young hen, Rihanna, being badly picked and pecked by one other hen, Barbara, (and sometimes her accomplice) in the summer.
Rihanna’s poor tail feathers were almost non-existent and as soon as there was blood drawn I set her up in an adjacent run and coop until her feathers came back, in full sight of the others.
In the meantime they’ve all seemed happy enough and all began to, and continue to, lay well. Although they had ample space before, we installed a much bigger run with plenty of interest and little hiding spaces ready for when I’d reintroduce Rihanna.
She was back for a week or so when she began to get pecked again and rather than removing her again I put pinless peepers on the Barbara and her accomplice. These have certainly done the trick, there’s peace in the coop/run, plenty of eggs from them all and the peepers don’t seem to bother or hinder the two of them.
Just the past few days I’ve noticed Barbara squaking loudly and running away from Rihanna when she’s nearby. I’ve seen her peck her once on the head when they were both at the feeder. She’s not done any damage from what I can see and I’ve given Barbara the once over and can’t see that she’s had any feathers pulled either (like she did to Rihanna). It seems more of a threat to get her to back off and a quick peck on the head to get her to budge.
Is it worth me putting some peepers on Rihanna too if this continues?
Or is this just a case of the pecking order sorting itself out now that the initial bullying has been nipped in the bud and Barbara is being put back in her place?
Both hens are the same age, Barbara is a Blacktail and Rihanna is a bluebell hybrid. She’s the biggest of all 5 of the flock so it’s surprising that she was picked on in the first place, bless her.
I had a young hen, Rihanna, being badly picked and pecked by one other hen, Barbara, (and sometimes her accomplice) in the summer.
Rihanna’s poor tail feathers were almost non-existent and as soon as there was blood drawn I set her up in an adjacent run and coop until her feathers came back, in full sight of the others.
In the meantime they’ve all seemed happy enough and all began to, and continue to, lay well. Although they had ample space before, we installed a much bigger run with plenty of interest and little hiding spaces ready for when I’d reintroduce Rihanna.
She was back for a week or so when she began to get pecked again and rather than removing her again I put pinless peepers on the Barbara and her accomplice. These have certainly done the trick, there’s peace in the coop/run, plenty of eggs from them all and the peepers don’t seem to bother or hinder the two of them.
Just the past few days I’ve noticed Barbara squaking loudly and running away from Rihanna when she’s nearby. I’ve seen her peck her once on the head when they were both at the feeder. She’s not done any damage from what I can see and I’ve given Barbara the once over and can’t see that she’s had any feathers pulled either (like she did to Rihanna). It seems more of a threat to get her to back off and a quick peck on the head to get her to budge.
Is it worth me putting some peepers on Rihanna too if this continues?
Or is this just a case of the pecking order sorting itself out now that the initial bullying has been nipped in the bud and Barbara is being put back in her place?
Both hens are the same age, Barbara is a Blacktail and Rihanna is a bluebell hybrid. She’s the biggest of all 5 of the flock so it’s surprising that she was picked on in the first place, bless her.
