We did a major cull of our flock this fall. Pending the cull, I sold 4 older hens and our 5 year old rooster. We had been thinking we might not have a rooster anymore, but once the rooster was gone, decided one was a good idea.
We hatched 11 chicks this summer. 5 female and 6 male. In the fall we culled 8 hens and 5 of the excess cockerels. That left us with the 5 pullets and 3 1 1/2 year old leghorns. During the summer, when we still had our 5 year old rooster, we noticed he seemed mean to the leghorns, keeping them at bay when we threw out kitchen scraps, while the old hens ate them.
Now that he and the older hens are gone, those leghorns rule the roost! They don't let the younger pullets eat at all. They are finally letting the rooster eat, but we've found the pullets with empty crops in the evening.
We recently got 10 inches of snow and the flock is staying in the coop. The pullets are being terrorized. Yesterday we chased the leghorns out into the snow for an hour so the pullets could eat.
Right now, we are still getting 3 eggs a day from those 3 leghorns. One pullet is 30 weeks old, and the others are 24 weeks. NO eggs from them yet. I was worried they might have been laying somewhere else, but they've been confined to the chicken coop 3 days now and only 3 white eggs per day.
Has anyone experiences similar problems? How do we get back to a harmonious flock?
We hatched 11 chicks this summer. 5 female and 6 male. In the fall we culled 8 hens and 5 of the excess cockerels. That left us with the 5 pullets and 3 1 1/2 year old leghorns. During the summer, when we still had our 5 year old rooster, we noticed he seemed mean to the leghorns, keeping them at bay when we threw out kitchen scraps, while the old hens ate them.
Now that he and the older hens are gone, those leghorns rule the roost! They don't let the younger pullets eat at all. They are finally letting the rooster eat, but we've found the pullets with empty crops in the evening.
We recently got 10 inches of snow and the flock is staying in the coop. The pullets are being terrorized. Yesterday we chased the leghorns out into the snow for an hour so the pullets could eat.
Right now, we are still getting 3 eggs a day from those 3 leghorns. One pullet is 30 weeks old, and the others are 24 weeks. NO eggs from them yet. I was worried they might have been laying somewhere else, but they've been confined to the chicken coop 3 days now and only 3 white eggs per day.
Has anyone experiences similar problems? How do we get back to a harmonious flock?