HELP!!!!!

[teashka]

. I have 6 RIR that are a year and half old....unbelievable spoiled rotten. Extremely lovable & friendly. To the point it disturbs my sanity, they are not just chickens, they are my pets....Anywho, I had my first broody hen this year ( I have no roo, thank GOD!) and I decided to get fertilized eggs from a friend. Well one hatched, a female acona. adorable aka "nugget". Mom raised her, and life was good. UNTIL recently when mom doesn't want her anymore and has returned to the flock about a 3 weeks ago. Nugget is now just shy of 3 months old. The poor thing ( nugget ) is tortured by these older hens! Its TERRIBLE! They free range in my yard during the day and Nugget hides and is the squirrelliest hen I have ever seen! So nervous and scared of everyone. The other hens do not peck at her as she runs and screams as soon as she sees any of them.

Night time was the worst. I have a extremely large coop and pen, the older hens perch inside the run, and oly go into the coop to lay.Nugget would try to roost with the other girls and they would peck at her so bad she would cling to the sides with her feet or get her head stuck trying to get away from them, but still wanting to be part of them. Nugget cried terribly when her own mother was pecking her so badly , nugget was trying to still get under her wing and mom wanted NO parts of her anymore. I had to intervene. Nugget is now more friendly with humans, she has taken to us. not as much as the others as they were hand raised. But she is coming around we can pick her up now, and hand feed her, and understanding we are her friend not enemy.

back track 1 month ago.... I had another hen go broody and I decided (before I saw how badly nugget would be treated) to purchase 2 Jersey Gieant chicks and out them under the new mom. I must be nuts, seriously. All is well while she is raising them (new babies). for now.

I now put nugget in coop with new mom and 2 babies who are apx. 1 month old. All seems peaceful at night. Older hens perch in run, and new mom 2 babies are in coop. I closed the coop door a few night but in morning....all hell was breaking loose as new mom was now beating up nugget, i think mostly because she spazzes and it freaks the new mom out. SOOO....I then started to leave the coop door open. so that nugget could get out of coop in the morning....THAT didnt work out...I went out and nugget almost hung hersef by forcing her head through the fence in sheer terror of the other hens. Someone please give me advice! I see NOW that 2 small babies work well together ( new babies), and that by adding one ( nugget)....is no good. She has no buddies, or flock. ughhhh


So should I separate nugget all together?
Will this behavior happen to the new babies?
Should I wait until the new babies are a little older and then Nugget will be the big hen of new babies and then just keep all 3 separate?






The Hen House



My 6 girls eating warm pancakes



Lil Nugget when she was a baby....and now...poor lil thing...


Winter is coming and we live in NJ....We had alot of snow last year and my girls had to stay inside the run for days....Clearly this will NOT work as either nugget will be pecked to death or hang herself, as for the other babies. They are still with mom and I have no idea what is going to become of all of this. I really wish I had never done this. But my pets are not giveaways. So that isn't an option. Anyone who has dealt with this PLEASE give me advice! Thank you for reading my story. Jill

 

[aart]

Your coop looks pretty small for 9 birds...what are the dimensions of the coop......and the run?

You might partition off part of the run for nugget to get some peace for a few days....then maybe add one of the RIR with her that is more docile and they could bond.

Chickens can be vicious and it's not fun to watch, but it's what they do....but a single outcast bird might need to be rehomed somewhere else if you can't figure out how to integrate her.

Sorry, I can't offer a more complete solution.

 

[teashka]

The coop itself is 6'W x 4'H x 4W (this measument does not include the nesting box)

The Run is 16' x 6' x 6'

Do you think that's small??

Also, they are all out side all day. Never in run, unless night time or it snows for days.

 

[NC118]

Those are some nice looking hens. I have some like that but they are only 21 weeks old and they are not that big yet. Little Nugget is adorable. So sorry they are treating her badly.

 

[aart]

I do think it's too small for 6, way too small for 9 with 2 being JG's...... especially in a climate where snow may keep them confined for days on end.

They need at least a foot of roost space per bird...they may cuddle up in less space than that, but the 'going to roost' bickering(which happens even in well balanced flocks) needs more room.

My suggestions above still apply for immediately to give Nugget a break and I would add that you might want to increase your coop size or reduce the number of birds.