Chickeeaholic
Songster
- Mar 8, 2021
- 324
- 1,044
- 241
This is for Tigger. Sorry this is sad, and even if no one reads this, I guess it's for me too, to process the loss. I loved her. She was an olive egger cutie pie I got last February. She was a runt. I had to fight through pasty butt with her and spend time warming her against my chest and hands. I didn't think she would make it but she did. She was a tough little bird.
The toughness wasn't always a good thing though. She was aggressive. Never to people, but the other chickens, and even the dog. One minute she would be chasing and biting one of the other chickens then the next wanting to set on my lap and be petted. I tried things to curb her aggression and I thought it wasn't that bad. Just normal pecking order behavior. In her defense she was at the bottom of the pecking order before I introduced three more marans to the flock in April. These were the ones that she was most aggressive toward.
A few days before Christmas I found Cricket, one of the three marans, with a bloody head, comb and missing feathers. The injuries are pretty bad and I'm doctoring her now. I figured it was Tigger. It didn't take long before I saw Tigger myself attack Cricket again.
I tried chicken jail. She was so miserable and wouldn't even eat. After letting her out the third day she still attacked Cricket. I feared it would just get worse. Rehoming her wasn't an option so I culled her yesterday. It was a difficult decision to make and it broke my heart. RIP Tigger girl, I will always miss you my beautiful and brave little hen.
The toughness wasn't always a good thing though. She was aggressive. Never to people, but the other chickens, and even the dog. One minute she would be chasing and biting one of the other chickens then the next wanting to set on my lap and be petted. I tried things to curb her aggression and I thought it wasn't that bad. Just normal pecking order behavior. In her defense she was at the bottom of the pecking order before I introduced three more marans to the flock in April. These were the ones that she was most aggressive toward.
A few days before Christmas I found Cricket, one of the three marans, with a bloody head, comb and missing feathers. The injuries are pretty bad and I'm doctoring her now. I figured it was Tigger. It didn't take long before I saw Tigger myself attack Cricket again.
I tried chicken jail. She was so miserable and wouldn't even eat. After letting her out the third day she still attacked Cricket. I feared it would just get worse. Rehoming her wasn't an option so I culled her yesterday. It was a difficult decision to make and it broke my heart. RIP Tigger girl, I will always miss you my beautiful and brave little hen.
