I know that this subject has been done to death but it is new for me. I have a small flock consisting of a Maltese black rooster (indigenous to my country hence pretty much unknown elsewhere), a golden comet (head hen) and two light sussex (originally 3 but 1 died in April). I got a light sussex and a maltese black hen which were under 2 months old in April. I followed all the rules I read (kept them in a separate coop in front of the run where they could see each other easily, let them free-range together whenever I was present etc and kept that up for 2 months. 10 days ago I put the new ones in with the others in the coop at night. As expected, there has been bullying but it is calming down somewhat. However, the young ones refuse to go into the coop with the others at night and instead sleep on the feeder (which is where they are spending all their time poor things). They get attacked by the older light sussex hens (approx 16 months old) as soon as they touch the floor. For the first couple of days, one of the older hens would jump up and pull feathers off the little maltese black so I segregated her for 4 days to bring her down the pecking order. She has behaved somewhat in the sense that I have no longer seen her jump up to pull feathers off. The little ones are still petrified of the older ones though. They will only walk about in the run when the others are free-ranging (I put the young ones in before the older ones to enjoy some treats and to explore the coop and run). Is this normal behaviour? Poor things have been sitting on a 1 square foot feeder for 10 days on end and can only move about when I free-range them. They have easy access to food and water as I have rigged up extra feeders and drinkers within very easy reach and they are eating and drinking normally. I thought that after the initial bullying they should be integrated into the flock by now.
Another question with regards to moulting please. The older hens (and rooster) started to moult last October when they were approximately 7 months old. One of the hens still has a large bald patch on her back and the rooster's chest is still pretty bald too, 8 months down the line. I have read that they don't usually moult until they are about 18 months old. Furthermore, the hen that has a large bald patch on her back is laying soft shelled eggs, or eggs with no shell at all and when she does lay a whole egg it is a massive double-yolker. She has been doing this since January. She's a pretty happy hen, knows her place, is very tame, eats and drinks without any issues, enjoys her dust bath etc. I cannot understand why the moult was never completed. any pointers?
Another question with regards to moulting please. The older hens (and rooster) started to moult last October when they were approximately 7 months old. One of the hens still has a large bald patch on her back and the rooster's chest is still pretty bald too, 8 months down the line. I have read that they don't usually moult until they are about 18 months old. Furthermore, the hen that has a large bald patch on her back is laying soft shelled eggs, or eggs with no shell at all and when she does lay a whole egg it is a massive double-yolker. She has been doing this since January. She's a pretty happy hen, knows her place, is very tame, eats and drinks without any issues, enjoys her dust bath etc. I cannot understand why the moult was never completed. any pointers?
