Orpington feather picking problem - need advice please!

[caralouise1974]

Oh dear, we're so not going to like this!

What worries me is that neither of us are here to jump in tomorrow if she really does get mauled, and we have no-one else we can ask to come round and watch our chickens for us all day. It's just impossible.

I suppose we just have to leave them to it and hope that they don't kill her while we're out at work.

God, I shan't sleep tonight, this is even worse than the feather picking!

 

[the1much]

give her some "roosts" outside to get up on, a bord or 2 laying around to hide behind,, before you let them out in the morning, spread some treats all around,, like apples,, big fruit,, something they gotta work at to get,, will keep them busy

 

[caralouise1974]

Brilliant, thanks so much!

We have a few pieces of board lying about, so we can use those as hidey-holes. And we have a couple of cabbages and apples and some wild bird 'fat balls' we could hang up for them to play with all day. I have a tub of maggots too, which could be good for distracting them and making them dig about in the grass.

Between us, I may actually pull a sickie from work tomorrow, by using the 'six months pregnant and feeling a bit off colour' card! Then I can keep watch...

So, anyway, we just put her into the coop in darkness, and not a peep out of any of them. We shut the flaps, heard a bit of rustling, and then nothing. We waited, holding our breath, for a couple of minutes. It seems they all just settled down nicely to sleep in the dark.

Does this bode well for no fighting during the night? Do chickens generally not fight at night-time, just when the daylight starts getting in? And does that mean that unless we get out there by dawn tomorrow to let the girls out (we usually get up around 7am), she'll be trapped in a small box with her two tormentors being bullied until we wake up?

Arrrggghh - all too stressful!

 

[the1much]

hehehe lol,,, ya it is stressful but you'll make it

no, birds usually dont fight at night, they get "stupid" at night,, if say a cat got in your coop, started eating a hen, the hen next to her will usually sit there and wait "her turn"

so,, that said,,,, YES, once they get up in the morning, the fighting MIGHT start,, sometimes they go about their business like nothing new,, till feeding time, lol,, but sometimes the fighting begins the minute they can see each other...

 

[caralouise1974]

Wow, thanks for the reassurance - I can at least rest easy this evening and tonight, knowing that they are unlikely to be harming her.

I'll just have to set the alarm rather earlier tomorrow and hope I get out there in time!

Thanks again the1much - the baby will be delighted that some of the adrenaline that was sloshing about inside me has subsided and it can have a more peaceful evening!

xxx

 

[the1much]

you guys have a peaceful sleep,, no worries

and you VERY welcomes.

 

[caralouise1974]

After a rather worried night (I woke up with my heart pounding at 4.30am, hoping Audrey hadn't been killed overnight!), here we are again, 9.30am. It's very weird out there in the chicken enclosure...

Audrey slept peacefully with Henrietta and Bella last night, and for about a minute or so this morning, they seemed to ignore her presence when I let them all out in the run. However, as soon as they realised they'd been hoodwinked, they both began mercilessly chasing her round and round the run, pecking her tail and pulling at her back. In the end I couldn't watch any longer and hoiked her out for a cuddle (I know, I should've left them too it).

I decided the let them all out of the run so that Audrey would have more room to escape if things got bad (we have a fenced area 5 metres by 5 metres around the run - so whilst not completely free range, it is a nice large space) and after about 20 minutes of roaming and a bit of chasing, the older girls just don't seem interested in coming out any more. Henrietta the buff orp is by nature quite lazy and spends a lot of time in the coop in the daytime anyway, but Bella's behaviour is downright odd. She's usually so inquisitve and loves getting out of the run.

When she has bothered to come out, she's been parading worriedly up and down the perimeter fence, cawing forlornly, (she even accepted a long cuddle from me, which was most unusual, but she carried on cawing at me the whole time) and has now been inside the coop with Henrietta for about half an hour. She also seems to have dragged herself through something nasty since last night, as all her tummy feathers are wet and sticky. She's feeling very sorry for herself, when she's not chasing Audrey about.

To top it all, Audrey, after three hours of utter torment, has just taken it upon herself to wander into the run univited and scrat about, and still the others hide away in the coop. It's completely bizarre, after all the agression they showed earlier.

What's going on? They all seem terribly upset. (I wondered if all this stress has co-incided with Bella laying her first egg (we expect it any day now) and that's why she's being so weird. I doin't want to go and nose about in the coop, just in case that's what she's up to.)

Anyone got any clues for me? xx

 

[caralouise1974]

Update: Bella has indeed laid an egg, and seems much more chilled out now! How fabulous!

 

[caralouise1974]

Oh dear, they're back to chasing her now. How disappointing.

 

[edladd]

I'd say stop worrying, they'll fight among themselves for a few days and then it will all calm down and they'll be happy. If you keep interrupting the process they'll just take longer to get it sorted and you're giving yourself more stress. Unless they are really hurting her (which it sounds like they aren't) let them figure it out.