Neighbor Chicken will not leave

[Col1948]

i remember when I added a couple of new girls, the next morning when I opened the coop, I heard a bit of a squabble, but nothing serious, it may have been they heard me and were anxious to get out, I sometimes hear it now and they are all fine together.

Anyway no lie in on Saturday lol.

 

[lverner]

So tonight everyone was mixing nicely, no squabbles. And then....a couple of the big girls went into the run to eat or drink and Little must have followed them. She got trapped with about 3 of the big girls chasing her, pinning her down, pecking at her (no blood draws) etc. She was panicked and couldn't quite figure out how to get out. She kept flying as high as she could, I think that actually scared the big girls a little and they backed off some. One of them walked out of the run and Little figured out how to get out, she high tailed it out. Now, she's still following with a bigger distance and they are leaving her alone. I'm starting to have 2nd thoughts about Friday night now.... Talk me off the ledge?

 

[aart]

How big is your coop and run?
Dimensions and pics might help.
Is there room for multiple feed/water stations?

Do you have another enclosure...or some crates?
Maybe put the old birds there and let the newbie spend some time in the coop and run by herself....then may add one of the older birds(calmest) in there with her.

 

[lverner]

The coop is 6 x 8, the run is approximately 14x12 but L shaped. We don't really have another enclosure that would be big enough for the big girls. We could put her in the run by herself while the big girls are outside of the run? Adding another bird with her is an interesting idea.

And yes, we can put other food/water inside the coop out of sight from the other birds.

Attached is the best picture we have. I thought we had better but..... pay no mind of the motorcycles and snow piles...my husband was getting ancy. lol!

 

[Col1948]

Side issue: I love the bikes, I'm an old cruiser man myself.

Shame about Little, she seemed to be doing well trying to mix in, this incident may have been a one off thing, but aart came up with a good idea.
That incident was a pity, they had her cornered and no proper escape route.

 

[llombardo]

Do you have any roosts in the pen where she can go high to get away from them when they decide to chase?

 

[aart]

We could put her in the run by herself while the big girls are outside of the run?

Yep.

Do you have any roosts in the pen where she can go high to get away from them when they decide to chase?

Yes, might want to put some stuff in the run for diversion and 'hiding' places.

 

[lverner]

Side issue: I love the bikes, I'm an old cruiser man myself.

Shame about Little, she seemed to be doing well trying to mix in, this incident may have been a one off thing, but aart came up with a good idea.
That incident was a pity, they had her cornered and no proper escape route.

Still...she's not giving up. I like this little girl! She's spunky! lol!

As far as the bikes go, Winter doesn't seem to want to go away this year. It's been cold and rainy, then maybe warm for about 20 minutes in one afternoon, then it snows, rinse, repeat. It needs to be warm (70) before I'll ride much; we've had 1 day of that on a weekend! lol! AND...the weather people need to stop getting our hopes up as they don't seem to be able to predict weather more than 4 hours out.

 

[lverner]

Yep.


Yes, might want to put some stuff in the run for diversion and 'hiding' places.

We definitely have stuff to put in the run like this! We'll get that in there tonight!!! Thanks!

 

[lverner]

Quick update. So far, so good. The usual pecking order stuff, nothing too aggressive or rough. We put a pallet in the run and leaned it against the outside of the coop. Little was hanging out on top and under it for quite awhile. She has since found a nesting box that she is hiding in. I'll update later!!!!!