My girls are MEAN

[Lanissa86]

Okay I have had a new pullet for a couple months and she seems perfectly healthy, so I decided it may be time to introduce her to my Four girls in the Big coop.

I put her cage next to the coop so they could all check her out. Left her there for about 2 weeks and then placed her one night on the roost with them.

Next morning she was all bloody and all feathers on her head were pulled out and she looked so dehydrated, so I pulled her out. Waited a week or so until her feathers grew back in and tried the process again.

Placed her from her cage into a Dog Crate inside the coop this time. My girls did not seem to care, so I placed her on the roost again.

This time I thought it would work! They left her alone for the first day, Second day they would not let her near the food or water and would jump at her and pick at her some. Third day I did not get a chance to check on them due to a family emergency. Came home that night and she was SCALPED! they tore her Ear Off! It so gross looking and I can see bone on the top of her head! Poor baby.

She was stressed but acts like a normal chicken still, so no brain damage. She is eating and drinking just fine.

What would you recommend I put on it to keep flies away from it! She is back in a small isolation cage and seems a lot happier.

Is there ever hope of introducing any new chicken to my small flock of Four? I thought I was doing everything right?

How would you recommend I introduce again when she heals up?

Thanks for any help!

 

[Lanissa86]

Anyone? I am sorry about my post being so long, but any info sure would help. Thanks

 

[CrazyChickieMama]

I had the same problem with one of my hens after she was scalped by a dog, the 4 big hens in the coop took it upon themselves to peck her senseless...

i found that if she had somewhere to hide and gave her food and water there she was fine after a few weeks...she still roosts under the shelf with her own water and food and it's been about 3 months.

i would recommend having somewhere for her to hide with access to her own food and water if you can...

 

[bails g]

I am just learning about chicks, but... I had two sick ones that I had to take out of flock and have been introducing back into flock. They told me put them outside on grass if you can to keep them occupied, they may not bother them. I found that mine don't bother if I put cut grass clippings in with them and keep a red light on them. But like I said... I am new and these are chicks... not yet chickens.

 

[annek]

I think you can put neosporin on it to prevent infections. I don't know if that will help with flies. I don't know that I would put her back in with your other birds, they sound vicious. I wonder if you could just let her spend the days together and cage her by herself at night since they seem to get her then.

 

[lovemychickies]

Are you able to free-range them? I have put my new ones in at night and let them figure it out with everyone the next morning as I let them out to do what they like. I have never had any serious problems. I little pecking here and there, but nothing gruesome. It seems that the more space they have to work out their differences, the better.

 

[shawnkfl]

i had one pheasant chick that was mean to every other chick with him. i flicked his beak a few times (figured that's how mama would dicipline him) and it has stopped completely. now, i don't know if he just outgrew the pestering or if my "intervention" did the trick, but i no longer have a problem

 

[Robin'sBrood]

I have some teenagers that are sharing the run with my 4 adults, but they haven't had to share the coop yet. When I do start putting them in the coop I'm going to install a new roost bar that is lower than the one my adults are currently using. Anyone think that will help prevent coop fighting?

Lanissa, is your poor girl having to share the same roosting area?

 

[bigtooks]

there is a place on here where you can read about introducing to your flock...go to the top of page and click members pages...then on the very right hand column scroll down to the "introducing to your flock" this might help you out

vaseline might help to keep flies off your poor girl...hope she gets better

 

[emvickrey]

I had some issues out of my Wydonette hens. I can't say on here what I call them but you can just imagine. They are just the crankiest chickens I have ever seen. Anyway. What I did is I have what I call Juvie Pens. There are 3 of them and they vary in size to accomodate for the growing of the birds. Anyway. When they outgrow the large Juvie cage, they go into the pen my husband built inside of the coop. So all that have free to roam can check them out as they please. I figure a few weeks and I will give it another try. I had put them in a week ago to see what would happen and they all went after them. All 16 hens after 2 - 2 month olds. Bad odds so we immediately took them out and put on the thinking caps because we needed the pen they where in for others to go into.
Before we built the covered run the adult hens and roos roamed after they paid their rent and I also let the oldest chicks out of the Juvie pen to roam also. I had to supervise for a few weeks because the Wydonette's would try to attack and the roos wanted to "Break them in early". So I would stand nearby and they would just walk away. If they didn't see me they would go to attack but as soon as I was spotted they turned around and left. After a while they just ignored them all together. Sometimes they would go to them but not try to hurt. Just see what they had to eat.

When we got the covered run built and the bachelor pads done and the roos out we put the 10 teenagers in the coop and run. The hens didn't like it but wheren't violent until it comes to food and their roost. So I spread out food in the run for the teenagers first to draw them out of the coop. They usualy know when I go to the food container to go outside now, then I feed the adults inside where they have always been fed. Before we put up the extra roost I saw our biggest hen walk over and grab one of the teenagers by the tail feathers and pull her off the roost. Then she just walked away.

Other than the loss of a few feathers they haven't been brutal. IF they had I would have removed the attacker to the punishment pen. I have a rabbit cage that I have sat near the run. I put the one being punished in the cage with no food or water for a few hours. It isn't in the sun so they won't dehydrate. The last time I had to do it was over food. One of the Wydonettes was attatcking the youngsters that where eating the scratch I put in the run for them. So I caught her by the feet and walked around in the coop a few minutes with her hanging there in my hand so all could see, then I took her out and into the Time Out cage. Then went back inside and put more food out so she could see what she was in trouble about. After a few hours of humiliation she went back in and she hasn't done it since. Not that I have seen anyway.

I read that somewhere to carry them around by their feet while they are just hanging there. It shows them who is really the boss.

Sorry so long but if I had one that was continuously brutal like what happened to yours, that hen would be reomved forever. She would either be rehomed or baked with lemon pepper. I don't want to spend my time having to heal wounds made by the other animals we feed. If they can't behave they're gone.