SCchickengal
Chirping
- Jun 4, 2021
- 76
- 54
- 81
Help! We have our first backyard flock of 9 hens. Our 3 original chicks were purchased in April of this year. They are a Barred Rock, a Buff Brahma, and a Columbia Rock Cross. They have lived peacefully together all of this time. We purchased 4 more pullets in July, and integrated them together about a month ago. The seven of those pullets have lived together peacefully—we haven’t observed any fights or injuries. Then my husband brought two more home a few weeks ago. We’ve just started monitoring them together this past week. Everyone has been fine aside from the occasional peck— the July chicks have been more interested in the two newbies, but no fights. Only an occasional peck. Today, I left our flock out back free-ranging when I went out for a twenty minute errand. We came back, my daughter found our Columbia Rock Cross laying in the yard. Then bird was breathing, but severely paralyzed on one side, basically could only flop around, running into things, etc. Anyway, the whole thing was super upsetting. I herded my kids in the house, with tears (mine included 
) and called my husband to put her out of her misery (when I left her she had run into the chicken fence like a pretzel, neck totally limp bending the wrong way against the fence and all, but I could still see her chest moving.) On the way back up to the house, I observed ALOT of feathers near where my daughter had originally picked her up from “laying down to sleep” (shes 5). Her white feathers and the feathers of our Buff Brahma. The Brahma has no wounds, only a slew of missing tail feathers that are very clearly on the ground mixed with the white feathers from the Columbia Rock Cross. My husband said the CRC didn’t have visible injuries, only bleeding from mouth. Up until now, we were convinced that the Barred Rock was the dominant chicken in our flock (we don’t/can’t have roosters where we live). Can someone tell me what on Earth may have happened?? Should I be worried about the Brahma? Should I be worried about disease? We are very new to this and have been totally caught off guard.
) and called my husband to put her out of her misery (when I left her she had run into the chicken fence like a pretzel, neck totally limp bending the wrong way against the fence and all, but I could still see her chest moving.) On the way back up to the house, I observed ALOT of feathers near where my daughter had originally picked her up from “laying down to sleep” (shes 5). Her white feathers and the feathers of our Buff Brahma. The Brahma has no wounds, only a slew of missing tail feathers that are very clearly on the ground mixed with the white feathers from the Columbia Rock Cross. My husband said the CRC didn’t have visible injuries, only bleeding from mouth. Up until now, we were convinced that the Barred Rock was the dominant chicken in our flock (we don’t/can’t have roosters where we live). Can someone tell me what on Earth may have happened?? Should I be worried about the Brahma? Should I be worried about disease? We are very new to this and have been totally caught off guard.
