OK so I have three 7 month old chickens, 2 buff Orps and 1 Production red....we got (we think age wise) 4-5 month old white leghorns to add to our flock but they are considerably smaller then my older girls. Well my red girl is the boss, my buffs are like meh about it, but Red will chase the 2 pullets and pull feathers out of their necks and try to jump on their backs! the buffs just peck at them and will chase them away from the main food and waterer which I thought was NORMAL. So we put red in a large dog crate and at night the pullets and the buffs go into the coop and will roost on the same poll etc but i am AFRAID to let Red out...she just seems MEAN compared to how the buffs are handling this whole pecking order thing. ANY ADVICE?!!! I dont want to get rid of my Red girl as of now she is my best egg producer but im not letting the leghorns go either. Space is an issue for us, were urban chicken owners and they currently have a coop that houses 6-8 hens with 3 nesting boxes and a 10 ft long, 4 ft wide and 4 ft high run but are building a much bigger run this weekend 15x6x6.
We keep pumpkins and lettuce and things to keep them "busy". Free ranging isnt an issue with my older girls but the younger ones are flighty we only live on a 1/3 of an acre with a 4 ft chain link fence going around it. The younger girls have already tried to fly out of the yard at which point we decided to keep them in the run/coop area.
We keep pumpkins and lettuce and things to keep them "busy". Free ranging isnt an issue with my older girls but the younger ones are flighty we only live on a 1/3 of an acre with a 4 ft chain link fence going around it. The younger girls have already tried to fly out of the yard at which point we decided to keep them in the run/coop area.
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