Some of you know my Tiny, my little EE hen with Sumatra blood, sight- impaired from hatch and spoiled rotten. She has depth perception problems, was hatched super small, had to be taught to eat and drink by us because she wasn't seeing the feed, etc. She has issues with frustration and sometimes outright aggression when she doesn't get her way. She roosts in the original side of the main coop, just to the left of the human entrance door, near Isaac, not on the actual roost bar, but sideways, facing the door and looking out the window, perpendicular to the roost itself. June, my EE hen, is always immediately next to Isaac on that roost, but sitting properly, never a moment's trouble from that girl.
Today, we had to put them inside early due to a storm coming in, so later, DH went out to check for any late eggs and roll down a blind we put over the nests so some of them don't try to sleep in them. When he came in, at a time he normally would not be in the coop, Tiny rose up, hackles flared, ready to fight. He spoke to her, called her name to calm her down, and picked her up, held her while he rolled down the roman blind over the nest, and because she was pecking at him, he sort of dumped her on the floor so he could check for eggs in the other nests in the next room. She came at his leg, pecking at him, but June wasn't having any of Tiny's antics tonight. She flew off the roost where she had settled beside Isaac, grabbed Tiny by the back of the neck and tossed her away from DH, then kept her from getting to him until he was ready to leave the coop. This isn't the first time lately she's come to DH's defense against Tiny. June isn't one to want to be held at all, though she is sweet after you have her in your arms; she just lays her huge daily green egg, is quiet and goes about her business, but she suddenly has become very protective of DH.
Here is the Tiny Terrorist, so called because of her aggressive tendencies:
Here is June:
This is the set up where part of the main flock roosts. Tiny sits on the far left on the top of that 2x4 above the second roost step:
Today, we had to put them inside early due to a storm coming in, so later, DH went out to check for any late eggs and roll down a blind we put over the nests so some of them don't try to sleep in them. When he came in, at a time he normally would not be in the coop, Tiny rose up, hackles flared, ready to fight. He spoke to her, called her name to calm her down, and picked her up, held her while he rolled down the roman blind over the nest, and because she was pecking at him, he sort of dumped her on the floor so he could check for eggs in the other nests in the next room. She came at his leg, pecking at him, but June wasn't having any of Tiny's antics tonight. She flew off the roost where she had settled beside Isaac, grabbed Tiny by the back of the neck and tossed her away from DH, then kept her from getting to him until he was ready to leave the coop. This isn't the first time lately she's come to DH's defense against Tiny. June isn't one to want to be held at all, though she is sweet after you have her in your arms; she just lays her huge daily green egg, is quiet and goes about her business, but she suddenly has become very protective of DH.
Here is the Tiny Terrorist, so called because of her aggressive tendencies:
Here is June:
This is the set up where part of the main flock roosts. Tiny sits on the far left on the top of that 2x4 above the second roost step:
