Not All Enemies Are From Outside…..My Chicken Coop!

My heart is wounded.

SOMEONE–one of my beloved chickens–VICIOUSLY attacked Beatrice, one of my Barred Rock “babies”.

A bit graphic here, but it looked like a raid on a covered wagon train. They took her scalp.

Here they are…..a few days before the attack. Left to right: Samuel, Pierre, Agatha, and the fated Beatrice. Cuties!

Now, I KNOW that I love my chickies too much. I KNOW that they are just chickens. I KNOW that they could end up on our dinner table, but right now they are my babies! I’ve put a lot of time and effort and care into them!

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Failed Chickie Integration?

I have tried in earnest to get this batch of chicks integrated into the big flock, seemingly (?) to no avail. 🙁

At first, I hoped that just their mother, Dough, putting everyone else in their place about how to treat her chicks would continue after she was done mothering them. Read about the beginning of the saga here.

Then, when Dough was getting tired of being Mama, I made a pen inside the chicken house for the babies so they could all see each other and continue to be used to each other. The pen allowed them a safe place if they needed to get away from the big chickens. They also had separate food and water in the cage. The cage might have been a bit big….like a threat to the big ones? Or, Maybe not?

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I’m not too much of a chicken mama! I can’t tell my red hens apart!!

There was one red hen, especially, that tormented them. She even learned to get into their cage! Poor Samuel, got his comb snipped by her, and he is still SCARED of her!

Rooster that he is, he would come running to me, crying and desperately asking to be picked up and saved from the old meany. I thought it was just part of the pecking order………….

That being said, and as mean as ole’ Red is, I am not 100% sure it was her that did the dastardly deed. If I was, she might go into my stew pot!

I really don’t know if the integration is working or not…..because now I don’t know which ones to NOT trust!! The big chickens, or Samuel?

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Could It Be Samuel?

Could it really be that my teenage Barred Rock, Samuel is the culprit? His rooster hormones are obviously kicking in, as seen in his little dances around his flock mates…..

Sometimes young roosters get a little too exuberant…I know that. And I THINK I can tolerate it….

The whole purpose of these chicks was to get a rooster for our flock. Well, that AND to appease Dough’s yearning for motherhood!

After the fact, more than one of our friends told us that Barred Rock roosters are MEAN…..!! They were bad talking my darling baby rooster, mind you!

I’ve heard both sides…..that other Barred Rock roosters are just big babies. THAT is what I was/am hoping for!

I can’t have mean roosters going around attacking little people, or big people for that matter! So I learned a few new techniques on how to combat that if I need them.

BUT, if he’s vicious to the hens, I really can’t do anything but eat him!! Well, that or just let him turn into coyote food.

Being a rooster is one thing–being a VICIOUS rooster is quite another!

So, our problem isn’t solved yet…and until I have more evidence, I CAN’T solve it! May there be no more casualties in the mean time! So…..we wait.

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Poor Beatrice, in isolation, is still up and walking around, after her deep head wound from the other chickens.

Of course, she must not feel all that good, but other than sitting down a lot the first day, and being a bit more mellow, you would hardly know anything is wrong with her.

I don’t know how long she will have to be in isolation, but all of her friends and enemies can still see her and talk to her through the fence, so she isn’t TOO lonely!

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Chicken Doctoring

Yes, we considered putting her out of her misery, but, right or wrong, she just seemed in too good of shape for that.

Here is the antimicrobial spray we are using to help her heal. Vetericyn Plus Poultry Care Spray.

As would be expected, she doesn’t appreciate her wounded head being sprayed with it, but it is supposed to help with healing as well as infection.

May the spray and the tough constitution that she appears to have, help her heal quickly!!

I’ll keep you posted down the line, on how she’s done!

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Well, this isn’t a fun post to write, but such is life with chickens–most days are delightful, but some just plain aren’t!

Thanks for coming and lending your ear. Hopefully there’ll be better news next time. Until then….

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Good Thoughts

“Chicken one day, feathers the next” – Unknown