nminusyplusm
Crowing
I have 6 pullets: Favaucana is top (a benevolent ruler, rarely enforces using anything other than a side-eye, which works very well), bully EE is 2nd, 2 more EEs in the middle who sometimes join in the mean girl hazing but are usually peaceful and 2 OE Welsummer x Cream Legbar at the bottom.
The 4x6 Coop is always open to a predator proof 8x10 DL run. Freeranging is out of the question as there's no grass where I live but lots of loose dogs.
Everyone has been laying for a few weeks except the bully, who just started to sort of squat today (not sure if all this could be exacerbated by hormones).
Ex-broody OE is a tiny thing (Welsummer x Cream Legbar) and she was second to last in the pecking order, she just got out of the broody breaker where she had to be coaxed into eating with scrambled egg, mealworms, etc.
Now it's day 2 of freedom for the ex-broody OE and the EE making it her mission in life to attack her. I'd rather let them sort it out in the run but EE is also preventing ex-broody from eating no matter how many feeders I put in different areas in the coop and run.
I was concerned that little ex-broody wouldn't be able to gain some weight with EE chasing her constantly, pecking (no blood though) so, fed up with EE torturing her, I put EE in the broody breaker turned jail for a time out (a couple days?). It's a 3' x 2.5' rabbit cage (with food and water) in the coop.
Now everyone but EE is happily scratching in the run, minding her own business, and EE is miserable "upstairs" in her cell in the coop.
I'm hoping to reset the pecking order. EE bully always went too far with a laser focus on her victims, IMO, but now it's really bad.
Is this the best way to solve this?
The 4x6 Coop is always open to a predator proof 8x10 DL run. Freeranging is out of the question as there's no grass where I live but lots of loose dogs.
Everyone has been laying for a few weeks except the bully, who just started to sort of squat today (not sure if all this could be exacerbated by hormones).
Ex-broody OE is a tiny thing (Welsummer x Cream Legbar) and she was second to last in the pecking order, she just got out of the broody breaker where she had to be coaxed into eating with scrambled egg, mealworms, etc.
Now it's day 2 of freedom for the ex-broody OE and the EE making it her mission in life to attack her. I'd rather let them sort it out in the run but EE is also preventing ex-broody from eating no matter how many feeders I put in different areas in the coop and run.
I was concerned that little ex-broody wouldn't be able to gain some weight with EE chasing her constantly, pecking (no blood though) so, fed up with EE torturing her, I put EE in the broody breaker turned jail for a time out (a couple days?). It's a 3' x 2.5' rabbit cage (with food and water) in the coop.
Now everyone but EE is happily scratching in the run, minding her own business, and EE is miserable "upstairs" in her cell in the coop.
I'm hoping to reset the pecking order. EE bully always went too far with a laser focus on her victims, IMO, but now it's really bad.
Is this the best way to solve this?