SEaton611
Chirping
I've posted about my sweet easter egger, Cruella, before, but the short version of her story is: in mid May I introduced her at 7 other 16wk old birds to my main coop (it was a bit earlier than I would have liked, but the weather was warm and I didn't have much of a choice.) My other young birds have been fine, but I found Cruella pecked REALLY BADLY - I'm talking SCALPED, with no feathers down her neck or on her head. I cleaned her up, put her in my pitbull's dog crate, and nursed her back to health.
In early June, I moved her crate (aka her Condo!) out to the back deck and covered it with a tarp to expose her to the other chickens while still being protected. Mid June, I started free-ranging her with the others. She made friends with one of my Faverolles (Toothbrush) and they are inseparable, so I tried out having them be roommates in the condo. It has gone SO WELL.
However, today her nasty giant scab flaked off leaving her fresh new skin exposed. I cleaned with Vetricyn and coated with Pick-No-More to be safe, and so far that's been fine - but I noticed, while she was hanging with Toothbrush, Toothbrush was pecking Cruella's neck. There was no blood drawn, and the two have been getting along just fine still - but where Cruella is still recovering, I want to understand better what level of pecking is normal vs. what I should look out for (and separate the two if needed).
I have another Faverolle, Baseball, that has also been living in the condo, and could switch up the roommate situation but...Toothbrush is very attached to Cruella and doesn't handle the separation well at all. Plus Toothbrush is pretty close to the bottom of the pecking order in the regular flock, so I worry about putting her in the main coop.
Anyone have any thoughts, guidance, or advice?
In early June, I moved her crate (aka her Condo!) out to the back deck and covered it with a tarp to expose her to the other chickens while still being protected. Mid June, I started free-ranging her with the others. She made friends with one of my Faverolles (Toothbrush) and they are inseparable, so I tried out having them be roommates in the condo. It has gone SO WELL.
However, today her nasty giant scab flaked off leaving her fresh new skin exposed. I cleaned with Vetricyn and coated with Pick-No-More to be safe, and so far that's been fine - but I noticed, while she was hanging with Toothbrush, Toothbrush was pecking Cruella's neck. There was no blood drawn, and the two have been getting along just fine still - but where Cruella is still recovering, I want to understand better what level of pecking is normal vs. what I should look out for (and separate the two if needed).
I have another Faverolle, Baseball, that has also been living in the condo, and could switch up the roommate situation but...Toothbrush is very attached to Cruella and doesn't handle the separation well at all. Plus Toothbrush is pretty close to the bottom of the pecking order in the regular flock, so I worry about putting her in the main coop.
Anyone have any thoughts, guidance, or advice?
