- Thread starter
- #21
StopTheWorldIWantToGetOff
In the Brooder
Thanks all for your input and support 
I have been holding off updating in case I had managed to finish Beattie off with a diseased companion, but they seem to have survived!
One month ago, Maisie came to live with Beatrice - pic below. I kept them separate at first and gradually allowed them to mix. Bea has stamped her authority and is the boss, to the point where I feel she is a bit of a bully but hey, hens will be hens.
There were a rocky couple of weeks when I was trying to get Maisie (Newbie) into coop at night, rather than in our house! She was reluctant to go up to bed as slightly wary of Beatrice, but they are both in there now every night. Maisie goes up 30 min before Bea and settles herself in the nest box (Omlet Go Up
) then Bea goes up when it is almost too dark to see and boots Maisie out of the nest box as it is her bed!
Maisie is not laying since she arrived and I think she might be moulting if that is possible in January/February? There are a lot of her feathers around and she preens herself a lot. Or is it some sort of terrible anxiety disorder? It isn't Beatrice pulling them out as I have checked! She appears very healthy generally and actually makes Bea look a bit small and scrawny.
So all in all a happy ending/beginning. I'm sure there will be ups and downs, they are not bezzie mates but I have caught them sitting together under the coop when the weather is particularly bad. I'm hoping that when chicken lockdown is over and they have the run of the garden, Beattie might chill out a bit
I have been holding off updating in case I had managed to finish Beattie off with a diseased companion, but they seem to have survived!
One month ago, Maisie came to live with Beatrice - pic below. I kept them separate at first and gradually allowed them to mix. Bea has stamped her authority and is the boss, to the point where I feel she is a bit of a bully but hey, hens will be hens.
There were a rocky couple of weeks when I was trying to get Maisie (Newbie) into coop at night, rather than in our house! She was reluctant to go up to bed as slightly wary of Beatrice, but they are both in there now every night. Maisie goes up 30 min before Bea and settles herself in the nest box (Omlet Go Up
) then Bea goes up when it is almost too dark to see and boots Maisie out of the nest box as it is her bed!Maisie is not laying since she arrived and I think she might be moulting if that is possible in January/February? There are a lot of her feathers around and she preens herself a lot. Or is it some sort of terrible anxiety disorder? It isn't Beatrice pulling them out as I have checked! She appears very healthy generally and actually makes Bea look a bit small and scrawny.
So all in all a happy ending/beginning. I'm sure there will be ups and downs, they are not bezzie mates but I have caught them sitting together under the coop when the weather is particularly bad. I'm hoping that when chicken lockdown is over and they have the run of the garden, Beattie might chill out a bit
