Hey Washingtonians!
This is my first year with chickens and I'm grateful for this website and all of the information available. I have five pullets ( 2 BOs, a Partridge Rock, an Australorp and an EE) who have been together since chicks. (They are all four months old.) They all got along well until about 3 weeks ago.
One of the BOs began to look smaller in comparison to the other ladies, noticeably smaller than her sister BO. Recently the other four pullets have decided to ostracize "Slim". She is chased away from food, water, dust baths, etc. Often she is hanging out in the coop while the others are out in the run.
I realize that it could be a result of the pecking order but tonight I looked into the coop and Slim was at one end of the roost and the other four were nestled together at the other end.
Slim appears to be fine - no mites or lice. Comb and eyes look good. She's eating and drinking although I haven't been able to figure out how much food and water she is taking in. When I can sit in the run I hand feed her and make sure food and treats are distributed around the run so that she has a chance to eat.
Is this normal? It seems strange to me but this is my first chicken family. Not surprisingly I am not having much luck finding anything on this topic. Any tips? Ignore it? Isolate Slim? Get more chickens? (Oh no! Not that!
)
TIA