Pecking Order - Update: Am I a Chicken Abuser?

[KMHunter]

I have read on another post (can't remember where.....darn....) that chickens have a poor sense of smell...I would not waste my $$ on perfume. Also - when they groom their feathers I don't know if that would be yucky for the chicken 'cause I am sure it tastes bad.... Some OP have asked in the 'Managing Your Flock' section how to introduce chickens .... you may want to check there for some good advise.

I actually wasn't thinking of doing it. I just thought it was funny. I had the same thoughts as you. I know they can't smell very well, and I really don't want to waste my perfume on them. Although they would smell awfully pretty.

 

[wombat]

Holding upside down works well for teaching the bird that you are the boss. It might or might not help settle things between two birds.

I've had success with two things:

- This one's easier ... just hold her down in the run, she'll likely squeal, and all the others will rush in to get their licks in while they can. She may be less likely to pick a fight after a few of these.

- The other method has been recommended by others in this thread. Simply remove her to her own quarters (dog crate or whatever) for several days. When you put her back with the others, she'll be at the bottom of the pecking order, and less likely to try to pick a fight with all four at once. This method's a bit more work, but is usually successful.

 

[lindym]

Quote:
This doesn't seem to work as well for roosters. We have had a 21 week old roo in a cage for about 3 weeks as he was being an absolute bully! I let him out accidentally last week and thought I would see how he and 2 other roos the same age did. 2 hours later Big Boy was back in the cage! The other 2 are fine together. We are waiting for them to be big enough to send off to freezer camp, then the hens and our one sweet roo will take over the space. (so much for ordering ALL pullets

)

Linda

 

[KMHunter]

Here is an update on my integration. I had my BR in "chicken jail" and today after work I let her and the 2 new ones and my sexlink free range for an hour or so and they all seemed to get along just fine. All went to bed together without much fuss. I am worried about tomorrow while I am at work so I am debating taking the older girls down to the barn to "visit" thier other sister. I think keeping them guessing and not in thier own territory seems to be keeping them from concentrating on the new girls. Then I will let them all free range together when I get home. I think the new girls are feeling more at home since they have had some time by themselves in the coop and run. I may give them one or two more days. I am off Friday through Sunday so I can put them all in together and give them a lot of free range time and see how it goes while supervising them.

 

[Chicky Mama]

I also have some boys in what I call "Birdie Jail".It'll help for a day or two and then he's usually rute back to it and then righte back in it.I'm looking to probably rehome him.I'm

cuz I paid $25 ea. for 2 pair of BLR Wyandotte banties and now wish I never got them!.The other BLR boy does it but not as bad. I've had some bad tail picking on 4 different birds

 

[goldielocks]

I am in the same situation. I have 9 girls that are 17 weeks old that i am going to put in with the 28 weeks old girls including 1 roo. I let them free range together in the evening and the younger girls do get run off by the roo and a couple of the hens. Im not sure what is going to happen when i put them all together. I am most worried about the 2 welsummer pullets, they are so docile and sweet. I will be living out in the coop and run for days.

I like the idea of putting the bully's in chicken jail...i will just put them in where i kept the younger girls. Lots of room with a roost.

 

[Nyrial]

Day 2 of chicken jail here. How long does it take for the others to "forget" them?

 

[wombat]

With hens, I would say 2-3 days ... be patient and give it the extra day.

With roos, it's not likely to matter. An aggressive roo will pick a 1v1 fight as soon as he gets another chance. I would stick with the hold-down in the run approach with roos, and if that doesn't work, the fall-back solution is the BBQ or the crock pot. Mean roos are tasty ... no pet flavors come through at all.

 

[KMHunter]

I took my two bullies out for a few days and it did settle them down some. But yesterday my BO was pecking at the new girls on the roost. Even when they got down to find a different place to roost, she went wherever they did. I took her out for the night. I think I will keep her out for more than 2-3 days. They didn't forget each other in that amount of time, so I will try again. I am not looking for a cure-all, but I don't want the younger girl being chased off the roost constantly. Do you know if they just get to the point of tolerating each other at some point? They do pretty well in the run during the day now. So I do have hope. I will not do this again though.