social pecking order

[twiggyzafox]

hello everyone, i found this board while looking for some answers. I will just jump right in! please bare with me though as i have only 3 chickens and i wasnt concerned about what breed they were as i just wanted egg layers. Since having them though i have fallen for them completely and they are now absolutely part of my fur/feather family : D So basically i originally bought 3 chickens on the same day at a local market, two of them were umm normal chickens i guess lol and one was a little bantam. They all got along extremely well and they would go around the garden together all day. A couple of years ago i lost one of them suddenly, i didnt get anymore until about 8 mths ago when i thought i would add one more to the flock. I got an isa brown as i heard they were good egg layers, which she def is but she is also very bossy to the other chickens. My oldest girl "Walker" is a big girl, totally black and she is quite happy to stroll the yard with "Lilo" my Isa brown (also rather large). Heres the problem I feel awful for my little bantam "Boss Lady" she is the sweetest girl and it kills me to see her spend all day alone : ( Walker got a bossy new friend to play with and Boss has been left out in the cold, is there anything I can do here?? I was thinking about getting maybe another bantam like Boss perhaps on the thought that a chicken more her size might prefer to hang with her than the other two big girls giving Boss someone to hang with. I know there wouldnt be any guarantees but would it be worth a shot? and would it be best to try and get another bantam the same breed as my boss lady?? any help would be great and plz forgive me if this is in the wrong place!!!

 

[Happy Chooks]

You could try adding another girl to the flock. It doesn't guarantee she'll buddy up with your bantam though.

As for integrating new birds into a flock, it is much easier if you integrate more than 1 bird. When you add only 1 bird to a flock, that one bird takes a lot of abuse until things settle down and their pecking order is reestablished. If you can, try to integrate at least 2 birds so they can't gang up on the 1 bird.

 

[twiggyzafox]

thanks for your reply

! I just assumed lilo would be the one taking abuse from my established two girls but as it turns out my poor boss lady did. I found her comb pecked up a couple of times, made me feel awful, lilo was quite awful to her. Not sure what to do now as i know walker and lilo can handle themselves but i am afraid to introduce another in case the new one abuses boss lady aswell, i'm sure it would be better with more chickens but am in a built up area and am pretty sure i am only allowed 6 chickens by my council. Perhaps i might look into getting two more bantams?? Im not sure what my boss lady is but she is black all over with an orange hood and she has a plumage of feathers coming off the side of her feet?? any ideas?

 

[Happy Chooks]

Do you have a picture of her?

 

[twiggyzafox]

i will get one and post today : )

 

[twiggyzafox]

Here is my girl Boss Lady : D

 

[Happy Chooks]

She looks like a cochin mix.