Hello from Raleigh, NC

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A three month old Red English Orpington and a two month old Blue Orpington. They are gorgeous! They are still hiding and scared but I'm hoping to win them over.

Flock Swap was pretty quiet yesterday when we were there. I saw next month there is a chick days party / swap and I'm guessing that swap will be more hopping.
 
Well I'm not really looking for advice since I've read so many good posts on chicken bullying here on BYC, but I want to vent just a bit. I definitely set myself up for failure attempting to add a younger Silkie to our existing flock. We already had one Silkie, one RIR, one black Orpington and two RIRxBOs. Our original hens are just over a year old now, and we added two Silkes (age 10 weeks or so) back in mid-December. Both fell ill from chicken lice and one died, but one lived (Betty White). Betty spend several weeks inside recuperating. A month later we got her a friend, a 12 week old Black Copper Marans (Penny). Another month out from that, several of the original flock are still chasing and pecking the newbies. The original Silkie (Luna) never got picked on and is still doing just fine. There's no blood and everyone one has access to food and water and space to roam and hide. I figured this would go on two weeks tops. Anyone made similar mistakes?
 
No problem... by all means feel free to vent here when the need arises! There are many caring folks here who have probably experienced what you need to vent about, and may be able to help. If nothing else, at least you can get it off your chest to others who can understand what you're griping about.

Sorry you lost one of your younger silkies to lice. Many don't realize just how much blood those things suck out of an animal and the damage they can do. Sorry that your younger birds are "hen pecked"... Never a pretty thing to see. We all want them to peacefully coexist. I suppose it doesn't help that the new additions are smaller birds than the existing group.

IMHO "meanness" and all that goes with it is in the genes and hereditary. If you're breeding, I would cull those birds and only keep the ones who are docile/friendly.
 
Thanks for the sympathy and advice. We don't have a rooster and won't be breeding these bossy ladies. The Black Orpington is the head gal, and she was fine with the new Silkie, but she's not a fan of the Marans. I suspect it's all about the roosting bars. The silkies stay on the floor. They are great with people... just not new birds on their turf. I will probably add another roost or shift one of their two this weekend.

Latestarter said:
No problem... by all means feel free to vent here when the need arises! There are many caring folks here who have probably experienced what you need to vent about, and may be able to help. If nothing else, at least you can get it off your chest to others who can understand what you're griping about.

Sorry you lost one of your younger silkies to lice. Many don't realize just how much blood those things suck out of an animal and the damage they can do. Sorry that your younger birds are "hen pecked"... Never a pretty thing to see. We all want them to peacefully coexist. I suppose it doesn't help that the new additions are smaller birds than the existing group.

IMHO "meanness" and all that goes with it is in the genes and hereditary. If you're breeding, I would cull those birds and only keep the ones who are docile/friendly.
Click to expand...
 
I now have a broody Silkie in our mixed flock. She was laying consistently for a few weeks then went broody and stopped laying. We have no rooster and remove all the eggs from the others promptly. For several days now I have made her spend time in the run, and she will eat and drink but heads straight to the nest box at her first chance. I’ve now put her in a dog kennel in the run with food and water (she’s been in 10 min) and is fussing about it and looking for a way out. Should I continue this course of action? We don’t have room to let her hatch out and raise chicks.
 
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