- Mar 24, 2015
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I had posted this on another forum but didn't get any replies. So I thought I'd try to get some help here. Thank you to anyone who can provide me with advice.
Hello all super knowledgable chicken parents!
I have a silkie roo and 3 silkie hens ( 1 is the mom of the other 2 - year old hens) A month ago their chicks started to hatch, out of 8 eggs I got 5 chicks. All of the hens were getting along and sharing mothering duties. Agnus, the mom hen, has 3 of the chicks that mainly follow her and Boomer and Fuzzy take care of the other 2 chicks. Boomer has asserted her dominance since they started sharing mommy duties, I figured pecking order no big deal. Then she mainly targeted Agnus, no idea why. Now Fuzzy has joined in and they are tag teaming Agnus. Agnus is now missing a bunch of feathers on her head. Luckily she hasn't had any injuries! But with all the carrying on and chicks running all over trying to get out of the way...I'm getting stressed out worrying that someone will get hurt! Is this normal pecking order stuff or I'm just being over protective??
I built them a 6x6 coop with a 6x12 run so they would have lots of space for the days I couldn't let them out to free range. Last year I had 2 hens, a roo and 6 chicks in a 3x3 coop with a 4x4 run, and I didn't have this much trouble.
Somebody PLEASE tell me what to do! Fuzzy actually pulled a feather out of one of the chicks today, I think the poor thing got in the way. Fuzzy isn't the brightest bird or best mom, but she tries. I hope I've provided enough info, but please tell me if you need more. Thank you for any help/advice you can give!
Hello all super knowledgable chicken parents!
I have a silkie roo and 3 silkie hens ( 1 is the mom of the other 2 - year old hens) A month ago their chicks started to hatch, out of 8 eggs I got 5 chicks. All of the hens were getting along and sharing mothering duties. Agnus, the mom hen, has 3 of the chicks that mainly follow her and Boomer and Fuzzy take care of the other 2 chicks. Boomer has asserted her dominance since they started sharing mommy duties, I figured pecking order no big deal. Then she mainly targeted Agnus, no idea why. Now Fuzzy has joined in and they are tag teaming Agnus. Agnus is now missing a bunch of feathers on her head. Luckily she hasn't had any injuries! But with all the carrying on and chicks running all over trying to get out of the way...I'm getting stressed out worrying that someone will get hurt! Is this normal pecking order stuff or I'm just being over protective??
I built them a 6x6 coop with a 6x12 run so they would have lots of space for the days I couldn't let them out to free range. Last year I had 2 hens, a roo and 6 chicks in a 3x3 coop with a 4x4 run, and I didn't have this much trouble.
Somebody PLEASE tell me what to do! Fuzzy actually pulled a feather out of one of the chicks today, I think the poor thing got in the way. Fuzzy isn't the brightest bird or best mom, but she tries. I hope I've provided enough info, but please tell me if you need more. Thank you for any help/advice you can give!
