dont know what to do

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karminski

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i am getting very worried about my 2 marans they seem to be getting picked on by my ex batts an white leghorns and although i have the space i dont have any more housing spare i dont really want to get rid of them as the older of the marans although shes 4 this year is a very very good broody and lives for hatching only i am sure of it , the other one whos is her daughter kinda of { older marans brother was the father } is only about 2 now and shes losing weight so i dont think shes getting to the food enough i kinda feel stuck .
i've tried them in with the faverolles and it wasnt to bad but they really didnt like ethier of them entering thier house hell broke loose when they did i will admit i have never tried adding new birds to a coop in the dark but does that really work i am willing to try it ??
i cant really afford to get anymore little houses at present as i am getting this wendy house which has had to be put of yet another weeks thanks to the weather so unles i can seprate that into 2 coops and house the marans an favs into a new area then i am stuck and dont know what esle to do :( if i could find them a really good home then i would rehome them .
 
Would swapping the two groups over with one another maybe calm it all down or would that not work? Could reset things but Spose it could Just stress them all
 
i was planning on adding extras feeders the weekend but the snow put stop to that and they have 2 water bowls anyway ,i have tried adding the favs to the group so they all could beocme one group with a larger area but that wasnt a good idea the favs are known for being quiet calm birds and they are but when i let them all in together well world war 10 broke out and i never thought i would see the favs turn nasty but they did .
 
It's best to mix them at night as it sometimes works but not always. Another feeder, well away from the other one should help.
 
Have they only just been put together recently?

If so sometimes, though not always, this can help - put the birds you are adding in after dark and place them on the perches in between the other birds. Then spray everyone over with something so they all smell the same - I use just a few drops of peppermint oil in a hand sprayer filled with water. Apparently birds have a very acute sense of smell, so any strangers will smell different to them, hence get picked on .

The other thing is birds which are ill will be picked on, so check them over for any mites or lice which might be bringing them down healthwise, or perhaps some other sort of pest or disease problem which is making them feel low and hence not responding correctly in the other birds view.

Another trick would be to get a wire dog cage (ebay or re-cycled) and keep the 2 where they can be seen by the others but not attacked. Also that would give you the opportunity to see how much they are eating and maybe feed them up a bit.


But don't forget chickens have personalities and likes and dislikes, so if they have really decided they don't like them, then they dont like them.
 
i will try the spray but it might have to wait tell the weekend as i want to stay out there and keep an eye on things also i need to get to the chemist for some oils as i dont think i have anything here thats suitable unless a dab of anti pecking spray will work and i mean a dab :lol: cant stand the smell of that , but these marans have been with thier group from day one its as if and please excuse the expression my ex batts an whites have turned racist :-)05 :-)05 and gone agaisnt black birds .
 
After shave sprayed on all of them on the perches. A customer of mine says she puts a little blob of Vick on the necks of all of them first night and she swears by it. Haven't tried it myself.
 
well i got loads of aftershaves { tester bottles from friend in work } do you reckon they would perfer the expensive stuff or the cheap stuff :lol: :lol: :lol: only joking , think i will give the vicks ago i love the smell of that and normally have a few tubs but i ran out and found albas oils instead but i could do with more vicks so i'll grab some tomorrow got another stinking head cold helps m :-)17 :-)17 e and the girls
 
I'd be cautious about using anything as strong as Vick on chickens. All birds are very sensitive to fumes and vapours, which can affect them badly and even be fatal. Vick gives that overpowering sensation of both hot and cold together from its vapour, which I remember with horror when my Mum used to rub my chest with it when I was a little girl and had a cold. I wouldn't want your chickens to suffer a similar fate, Karminski!
Any milder scented stuff will do . I use just a dab of vinegar, nice and natural sort of smell, not so toxic as aftershave etc. and it evaporates quite fast, again unlike Vick, which I should think would stick to their feathers and gum them up, and maybe even get eaten when they tried to preen it off.
 
:lol: :lol: ok i'll use david beckham stuff then :-)08 . think i will stick with trying the vinegar sprayed around the inside of the coop maybe inot ecah corner or something really dont want to overdo it but i want to do this as calmly as poss as both marans are becoming very timid .
 
Don't spray it around the coop, you need to apply it to the birds feathers. I get a little bit of sponge, damp with vinegar, and just wipe it on their feathers over the wings, not a lot. If using a spray be careful to come from behind the bird so no chance it will go in their eyes, especially if using perfume, and again, just a very small amount. You don't want to suffocate them it can smell very strong at close quarters all night!
 
thankyou marigold will get prepared for the weekend as long as i have the strength now gone down with an infection so i am struggling a bit to find the energy to do things :( hopfully antiboitics will kick in shortly .
 
We use lavender spray on our new introductions. Seems to be effective but we have also done the two week alongside familiarity process as well.
 
Poor you,
I have used a diluted lavender oil spray for the same problem in the past, also tea tree oil, and garlic is supposed to work as well.
Hens can be such a pain in the butt, but cannot help loving them just the same.
I have 3 still to be integrated into the big pen, but it is still a total quagmire, only the pallets make it tolerable for treading on.
My 2 Croads are now so huge, and still in a tiny run, I feel gutted for them, and today have them in a bigger run in the garden with the entrance blocked off.
I'm wondering if they are so huge because they dont get much exercise.
They are so lovely and placid and laid back, I feel they deserve much better than I am giving them at the moment, space wise.
I feel like a bad mother to these magnificent girls!
 
i brought another coop today which will be in tomorrow and although i was going to put that in with the big girls and let the marans use that i have now decided that they can share the run with the favs but have thier own house :) i am hoping to get this up tomorrow night as they really dont take 30 mins to build ;) i know most people dotn agree with some of the coops around now adays but as long this one is kept dry then it will last good thing though is i finally picked up the pvc sheets from my friend today they were not as good as i thought but they will be ideal for covering the top of the smaller coops with :D having the marans in with the favs is a lot better then them being with the ex batts so fingers crossed they should be able to eat more etc after tomorrow without being stressed , i wont be getting the wendy hosue ethier as over time i dont want as many big birds so its no good me having a large wendy house when smaller coops will do just fine so.
 
well tonight was so much nicer and calmer , i quickly built the new house { missed out some bits :lol: do them tomorrow } and put the marans in with the favs apart from one little fight all of the birds went to bed without any fuss :D :D :D :D omgggggggggg it was so nice just got to leave the marans and favs to settle now and make extra feeders over the weekend for them peace at last well almost .
 
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