Our chickens seem to be healthy and happy, laying 4-7 eggs daily. Then I noticed one of the two all-black hens was keeping some distance from the rest of the flock. They all went back to the henhouse at night, and the next day HA checked on them at their morning feeding. The same hen was cowering in a corner, and HA noticed that her head had been severely pecked. We thought she might even have lost an eye.
HA isolated her in the sheep barn, but it isn’t fully enclosed and she soon flew out to join the flock while also keeping her distance. When I’d feed the flock, she was always hiding behind the waterer or in an isolated corner of the coop. HA has taken to picking her up and isolating her from her flockmates. Once, after I’d fed them, I was preparing some grain for Vinda, Lu, and Naan when I heard a commotion. The entire flock including the rooster were rushing over to where Betty was hiding, and they all started pecking at her mercilessly. They didn’t respond to my yelling or pounding on the wall, so I had to run around to the door and go inside to break up the assault. It was like a scene from middle school: “hey! there’s Betty! let’s get her!”
HA has put some toys in their run (chicken toys; who would have thought?) and we’re contemplating putting Betty in a cat carrier and keeping her separate from the flock a while. Apparently, this isn’t all that unusual behavior for chickens, but it sure seems mean and uncalled for. Her eye, by the way, looks as though it will recover.
—2p