Little House Grandma
Chirping
Hi Everybody,
We are new to back yard chicken keeping, & are learning as we go along. Been reading posts on here for a little while, but now, I need help with a specific problem. (There are so many!)
I live in a little house behind my daughter & son in law & 2 grandkids. (I know, cool, right?!!!)
This past Spring, my son in law bought 8 chickens. He had built a coop with a yard (not covered), & I guess we all assumed that as long as we kept them in food & water, that's all we had to do. But soon problems began to arise. We had a mite infestation, learning how to keep the coop clean was a problem, & we even accidentally let their water run dry a couple of times during that really hot spell.
Partly with the help of this forum, and with better family communication, we seem to have a better handle on things. But we lost 2 pullets in the process.
And now 3, (& possibly 4), of the chickens have turned out to be roosters! Two of them are real bullies! We are beginning to think, now, that they contributed (along with the other things mentioned above) to the deaths of the 2 little girls.
One of the remaining pullets, a Barred Rock, seems to be doing ok, but the other, a Buff Orpington, is very small, &, for a minute there, I thought she was going to be next. Been trying to keep the bully birds off of her & make sure she has plenty of access to food & water. I even finally started keeping the bully birds locked in the coop all day. I feel bad, but they have access to food & water, & they brought it on themselves. I also have the one of questionable sex locked in there, as I witnessed him/her picking on the Barred Rock a couple of times. And, with those guys out of the way, the other three, including a very handsome, & very well mannered, Australorp rooster, have been living an idyllic life, free ranging on the property (we have about 3 acres), & hanging out down at Grandma's house.
But, here's my problem. At night, in the coop, they all crowd around her, I guess trying to "protect" her (more like possess her, I think), even lying on her. I'm afraid they're going to smother her!
When the first one died, my daughter found her in the morning under all the roosters, barely alive. She died later that day. So, when I found them all crowded around this little girl the other night, I was horrified! I took her out & set her up in a box in my kitchen. She didn't like being away from the flock, though, so the next night, on the advice of someone my daughter spoke to at a local farmer's market, we threw the roosters out, instead.
At first, we just took the 2 bully birds out, & made them sleep on the roof. But the next night, I noticed the Australorp rooster, who's a perfect gentleman during the day, crowding in on her also & that's when I saw the androgynous one picking on the Barred Rock, so, I threw them all out, & just left the 2 hens in there.
My question is this. Do you think they will smother her, or do chickens like sleeping all crowded together like that? When I put the three of them in there, the Australorp rooster & the 2 pullets, they all crowded together in one of the nesting boxes, with little Buffy all kind of smushed in the corner. Is that normal?
Sorry for such a long story, but family has gone out of town & left the chickens with me, & I need help!
We are new to back yard chicken keeping, & are learning as we go along. Been reading posts on here for a little while, but now, I need help with a specific problem. (There are so many!)
I live in a little house behind my daughter & son in law & 2 grandkids. (I know, cool, right?!!!)
This past Spring, my son in law bought 8 chickens. He had built a coop with a yard (not covered), & I guess we all assumed that as long as we kept them in food & water, that's all we had to do. But soon problems began to arise. We had a mite infestation, learning how to keep the coop clean was a problem, & we even accidentally let their water run dry a couple of times during that really hot spell.
Partly with the help of this forum, and with better family communication, we seem to have a better handle on things. But we lost 2 pullets in the process.
And now 3, (& possibly 4), of the chickens have turned out to be roosters! Two of them are real bullies! We are beginning to think, now, that they contributed (along with the other things mentioned above) to the deaths of the 2 little girls.
One of the remaining pullets, a Barred Rock, seems to be doing ok, but the other, a Buff Orpington, is very small, &, for a minute there, I thought she was going to be next. Been trying to keep the bully birds off of her & make sure she has plenty of access to food & water. I even finally started keeping the bully birds locked in the coop all day. I feel bad, but they have access to food & water, & they brought it on themselves. I also have the one of questionable sex locked in there, as I witnessed him/her picking on the Barred Rock a couple of times. And, with those guys out of the way, the other three, including a very handsome, & very well mannered, Australorp rooster, have been living an idyllic life, free ranging on the property (we have about 3 acres), & hanging out down at Grandma's house.
But, here's my problem. At night, in the coop, they all crowd around her, I guess trying to "protect" her (more like possess her, I think), even lying on her. I'm afraid they're going to smother her!
When the first one died, my daughter found her in the morning under all the roosters, barely alive. She died later that day. So, when I found them all crowded around this little girl the other night, I was horrified! I took her out & set her up in a box in my kitchen. She didn't like being away from the flock, though, so the next night, on the advice of someone my daughter spoke to at a local farmer's market, we threw the roosters out, instead.
At first, we just took the 2 bully birds out, & made them sleep on the roof. But the next night, I noticed the Australorp rooster, who's a perfect gentleman during the day, crowding in on her also & that's when I saw the androgynous one picking on the Barred Rock, so, I threw them all out, & just left the 2 hens in there.
My question is this. Do you think they will smother her, or do chickens like sleeping all crowded together like that? When I put the three of them in there, the Australorp rooster & the 2 pullets, they all crowded together in one of the nesting boxes, with little Buffy all kind of smushed in the corner. Is that normal?
Sorry for such a long story, but family has gone out of town & left the chickens with me, & I need help!
