Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[robyn8]

I guess it could be another hen. They seem to get along fine though anytime I'm out there or look from the window. I'm not really sure if she's low on the order. There's one more dominant hen that pushed the injured one out of the way for treats but that was like one time I witnessed it. It's just so hard to tell what's going on.

 

[aart]

How old are these birds?
The silkie cockerel is 5.5 months....what about the others?
Are we dealing with mature laying hens(over a year old)?
Or pullets(under a year old)?
Are there other older birds in residence?
How many birds total?
How much room in coop.... in feet by feet?
Knowing more about the whole flock might help.

I'm assuming a bunch of young birds, (4)pullets not laying yet.
One male just coming into sexual maturity(crowing at 5.5 months) one male a bit older already mounting previously.
My bet is, it's one of the males and it's due to the silkie males testosterone just now rising.

 

[robyn8]

How old are these birds?
The silkie cockerel is 5.5 months....what about the others?
Are we dealing with mature laying hens(over a year old)?
Or pullets(under a year old)?
Are there other older birds in residence?
How many birds total?
How much room in coop.... in feet by feet?
Knowing more about the whole flock might help.

I'm assuming a bunch of young birds, (4)pullets not laying yet.
One male just coming into sexual maturity(crowing at 5.5 months) one male a bit older already mounting previously.
My bet is, it's one of the males and it's due to the silkie males testosterone just now rising.

They were all hatched together. About 5.5 months. The BO started crowing and mounting about a month ago. The silkie started crowing just a couple days ago. No eggs yet but I assume that's due to the time of year they are hitting sexual maturity.

Coop is 8x8 run is 8x12. They do not free range at all yet. They really seem to all get along so I'm at a loss here as to what to do. I'm leaning towards getting rid of silkie and just waiting to see if we have more issues. If so I'll get rid of BO too. The BO is super friendly to us though.

 

[robyn8]

Oh and these are my only birds. 4 BO pullets, 1 cockerel BO and 1 cockerel silkie that was supposed to be a girl.

 

[robyn8]

I think I'm going to start trying to rehome the silkie while we continue to try and figure out the issues with our flock. If anyone knows if someone interested in a 5.5 month old blue silkie cockerel send them my way! He really does seem nice. He usually just hangs out with the girls and seems pretty chill when I'm around.

 

[RaZ]

Ah the joys of chicken keeping. Just when you think you have them figured out, they go and do something else entirely.
Watched them while I out today and noticed that a few were acting "sneaky". They were sneaking into the garage, one after then other. Went in to find that they had a new nest on the floor under the motorcycle. Fresh eggs on the drop cloth. I watched as one hen laid hers. Picked it up and it was warm and wet still. I wonder how many secret nests I will find come spring.

 

[robyn8]

Update to my scalped hen issues. She's much happier in the dog kennel in the coop. I just witnessed a fairly violent mating by the BO. No injury this time but it was enough to convince me that he was the one to scalp the hen. He will be eliminated tomorrow morning and the silkie will stay for now. Thank you for all the help and advice!

 

[1muttsfan]

A BYC friend just had a near-scalping - scroll down a couple posts

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ridge-x-partridge-plus-dark/360#post_17874240

 

[robyn8]

Thanks! So maybe the damage to my pullet was over the course of multiple matings? My pullet seems to be doing ok. She's acting fine and much happier in the kennel in the coop than she was in the garage. I hope she recovers.

 

[1muttsfan]

Speckledhen is a pro, shoot her a PM and she'll answer, or post on that thread