Three of my austrolorpe hens (the mama and two others) are being exceptional mommies to eight out of nine baby chicks. But the other one...yikes! They chase it and peck it until it's covered in wicked wounds and scabs. At first, I tried sticking it back in with its siblings and mommies at night, hoping they'd just get used to this ninth chick. But now the rejected fuzzball is covered in really nasty wounds (I can see connective tissue). I thought the reason they rejected it was that it might be sick, so I isolated it with me today--and it doesn't seem sick at all! I took it down to the orchard with me and it followed me around as I was weeding, just as full of energy as a chick can be (soooo cute).
So I'm wondering--what's up with this baby? It's the only austrolorpe baby--the others are yellows and browns--so it's the only black one...but the mommies are all austrolorpes as well. It's the smallest of the bunch--but there's ample food available, so I'd think that would be okay. For the first week, the little one was reasonably accepted...but now I've had to keep it in the house (where he tried to adopt my cat as a new mom, much to her chagrin) unless I'm in the garden. He SEEMS perfectly healthy(other than those wounds...but lonely. He is terrified every time I bring him close to the chicken area (or anywhere my chickens roam).
Does anyone have any ideas? I'm worried about his wounds, though those seem to be healing much better than I could have dreamed. What should I do about those? It really seems like he needs to somehow re-integrate with the flock...but maybe that's not such a great idea?
So I'm wondering--what's up with this baby? It's the only austrolorpe baby--the others are yellows and browns--so it's the only black one...but the mommies are all austrolorpes as well. It's the smallest of the bunch--but there's ample food available, so I'd think that would be okay. For the first week, the little one was reasonably accepted...but now I've had to keep it in the house (where he tried to adopt my cat as a new mom, much to her chagrin) unless I'm in the garden. He SEEMS perfectly healthy(other than those wounds...but lonely. He is terrified every time I bring him close to the chicken area (or anywhere my chickens roam).
Does anyone have any ideas? I'm worried about his wounds, though those seem to be healing much better than I could have dreamed. What should I do about those? It really seems like he needs to somehow re-integrate with the flock...but maybe that's not such a great idea?
