Over the last couple of days I have been picking up fluffy grey feathers, some with a white spot on the tip. I knew they were Speckles feathers. I then noticed that she has a bare bottom which has become worse over the last couple of days.
Speckles has a bare bottom
I am feeling pretty miserable about this. I can’t bear feather plucking but I suppose at least it is her bottom rather than her head which is much worse. We don’t know who the culprit is as we haven’t managed to spot it happening. It has to be Peaches, Barley or Emerald.
I wonder if this integration process is proving stressful all round. While the girls are separated for half the day the original six girls only have half the run, so less space than they are used to.
I feel the need to move this integration process on but I am struggling with the new girls being averse to the patio area and unable to get to food or water.
Yesterday afternoon I decided to take some drastic action. I mixed the girls at lunch time and the new girls went straight to the top of the ladder as usual. When I was watching them a bit later I could see that this had become a kind of game for Rusty. The new girls would leave the ladder and edge up the run until Rusty would spot them and would chase them straight back up again. They were being held prisoner on the ladders.
I decided that I needed to force them to be together. I closed the hatch and the temporary gate so that there was no access to the bottom part of the run and the ladders. Emerald and Barley were out of the equation for now as they were in the nest box. I armed myself with the water spray and let the action begin.
Rusty in particular went for the new girls and managed to get a beak full of feathers from Apricot’s back. I sprayed Rusty. Freckles went for them and I sprayed her. Speckles went for them and I sprayed her too. Rusty kept on trying and I sprayed her and after a while only had to point the spray at her and tell her “no”, for her to back off.
It was horrible at first and I felt bad throwing the new girls into this but soon I was able to keep the other girls from going for them. The new girls stayed close to my feet at first. They then started to venture out.
Dandelion and Apricot discover a new perch
Rusty retreated to the bush in a bit of a sulk.
Rusty also finds somewhere new to perch
The new girls finally went to the patio and ate some mash as if they were starving.
They find the food dish on the patio
They take a liking to the shelter
They kept returning to the shelter and obviously felt safe in there which was a bit of a worry because they could get trapped in there. At this point Apricot was dozing and I thought the new girls had probably had enough and needed a bit of respite.
I separated the areas again and put them back in their usual half. After the bedtime corn I opened up again. I thought it may give the new girls a chance to follow the main flock into the chicken shed at bedtime.
I checked on them once the main the flock were in the chicken shed. I had kept the new girl’s coop closed so that they may head towards the chicken shed which they did.
The three amigos head up the patio towards the chicken shed
This is brave, cinnamon is slightly less sure
From this moment I headed them in through the pop hole. They lingered behind the pop hole when Apricot suddenly jumped to my shoulder.
From here Apricot leaped to my shoulder
The camera got stuck and then the battery died
The camera hasn’t been opening properly without me helping it along by touching the shutter with a finger. I think years of taking chicken photos have caused dust to get in the mechanisms plus this camera doesn’t let me know when the battery is low but just suddenly dies. Frustrating! This was the only shot my husband was able to get before it died. I kept it in because although it’s rubbish it does show Apricot on my shoulder.
I was leaning towards the nest box to try to allow her to jump down with Cinnamon who was already on top of the nest box. Dandelion is in the pop hole door way. It took a few moments to get Apricot to dismount from my shoulder. It’s sweet that she sees me as a place of safety.
I directed them back through the pop hole and then popped them on the new perch. I closed the door to keep them there and then opened it again once they stayed on the perch.
I feel this is a huge step forward. They have gained in confidence and they know where to head at bedtime. I intend to keep this up and feel we are finally making a breakthrough with this. I will remove their coop to the patio area today as they no longer need it and I am feeling so much more positive now. I think we are finally ready to move on with this.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
Oh dear, poor Speckles! 🙁
Could you slot some cage cups onto the mesh high up by the ladder the new girls like so you know they can always get food, water and grit – then you won’t have to worry so much.? That’s what I did when I integrated my girls and it worked very well. x
I Have thought of that but I feel it will just enable to them stay at the top of the ladder all the time and they will never mix. I am working on getting them mixed at the moment. I spent time with this afternoon getting them all together. I then had to come indoors for something and when I returned they had escaped the temporary gate and are back at the top of the ladder. Sigh! I will keep trying. x
You are gettin there, small steps.
I keep telling myself that.
You certainly are getting there. Some lovely photos – love the 3 amigos! Pity about Speckles’ rear: with mine, since the lock-in, it’s the front of their necks, with 2 of them looking awful but, despite spending significant amounts of time in the run, I’ve yet to ascertain who it is doing it.
The three amigos was my favourite photo of the day. I still haven’t caught anyone doing it, perhaps it’s stopped, lets hope so. More progress today, will report back tomorrow.