Hello everyone. We are starting to have our first behavior problem in over a year.
I noticed that a bunch of my EE hens were missing there ear tufts and beards a few weeks ago. Though they look hideous without them, there were no actually bloody wounds, just missing fluff/feathers. We added an extra roost in the coop hoping that would solve the problem and give them extra places to choose/get away from the instigators.
Now, one of my favorite EE hens Lucy is missing the feathers off the back of her neck
We used to have a Rooster but he became way to aggressive and started attacking our daughter, so off with his head it was. This was about 6months ago and we have not had any other roosters.
Today I witnessed with my own eyes, my black sex link Hen mount Lucy just like a Rooster would...She looked to be mating with her. So this answers the question of what happened to Lucy's neck feathers..the thing is, our Rooster never did that much damage to our girls...a few feathers maybe, but not plucked bald like this.
Is this behavior becasue there is no Rooster? Is there anyhting I can do to stop it? Leana the BSL hen is not particularly high in the pecking order so this kind of surprises me. When I caught her doing this earlier, I snatched her up and put her back in the coop while everyone else is out free ranging.
I noticed that a bunch of my EE hens were missing there ear tufts and beards a few weeks ago. Though they look hideous without them, there were no actually bloody wounds, just missing fluff/feathers. We added an extra roost in the coop hoping that would solve the problem and give them extra places to choose/get away from the instigators.
Now, one of my favorite EE hens Lucy is missing the feathers off the back of her neck
We used to have a Rooster but he became way to aggressive and started attacking our daughter, so off with his head it was. This was about 6months ago and we have not had any other roosters.
Today I witnessed with my own eyes, my black sex link Hen mount Lucy just like a Rooster would...She looked to be mating with her. So this answers the question of what happened to Lucy's neck feathers..the thing is, our Rooster never did that much damage to our girls...a few feathers maybe, but not plucked bald like this.
Is this behavior becasue there is no Rooster? Is there anyhting I can do to stop it? Leana the BSL hen is not particularly high in the pecking order so this kind of surprises me. When I caught her doing this earlier, I snatched her up and put her back in the coop while everyone else is out free ranging.