This past spring I got 14 new chicks.... not all at the same time... I would get 2 here, 4 there, etc., until we ended up with 18 chickens total (I've had to re-home the cockerels, and we lost 1 meatie pullet.) Anyway, I used to love to see the girls that I got at the same time as chicks hanging out together as they got older. I've noticed that as they got to laying age their closeness went away and they no longer hang out together. Then this evening while I was locking them up in the coop I saw Lucy, my NHR, pecking the dickens out of Ester, my EE, who was on the roost bar beside her. These two were BFF when they were younger (see pic below.) Why do they have do this to each other, it's so sad.
Because they are animals, with animal instincts. What humans consider "mean" is usually just nature taking its course.....
Yeah, wasn't there anyone you grew up with that you couldn't stand once you got to high school? I had a couple chicks like this, my two Javas. Always hung out together and the bigger one defended the smaller one (usually from me ). About the time they all hit puberty the two of them seemed to have had a falling out. Now the bigger one ignores or pecks the smaller one. Such is life.
