Secrets Unveiled: The Surprising Journey of Brian Whiddon’s Chicks
Our neighbors told us that introducing the new birds into the hen yard now (2 weeks ago) was safe, and that the hens would actually be a little less aggressive toward smaller birds than they would toward a fully grown chicken. Establishing a “pecking order” is a real thing, and is a natural social element of chicken life. Chickens are always establishing dominance over each other, even though they stick together as a flock, and huddle together for safety at night.
Indeed, the older hens began chasing the young birds around the pen. Whenever I’d throw food down for the young ones, the three adult hens would run up, chasing them off to take first picks of the food on the ground. But no one has been seriously hurt. The younger birds just run away from the hens, and the worst attack I’ve seen has simply been a stiff peck on the back. Currently, I keep two feeders full, each at an opposite end of the pen. Additionally, when I throw scratch on the ground, I’ll throw it into each corner of the rectangular pen, and then some in the middle so that there is no need for any fighting over the food.
Post Comment