I've been concerned about how my old hens were going to accept my new chicks as I began to integrate the two flocks over the last week...there has been a bit of pecking going on, it's hard to watch the big hens pick on and bully the new chicks. I realize that it will probably all be fine in the end, but to help smooth things out, I've been trying to provide a few distractions for the four older hens. Things that will take their focus off of their new "roommates". The husband has helped with the efforts, he had the idea of giving them a pile of sand to play in - a good idea - they've all been scratching and rolling around in it. But I've wanted to keep the big hens busy to give the little chicks a chance to adjust to being in the new area and learning how to get along with the hens. So I decided to try something out...
I cut a cabbage into two halves and used a fondue skewer to string each half with twine.
Then I hung each half with a length of twin from the netting that covers the fenced in area where my chickens live.
Why would I do such a thing? What was my plan for these cabbage pinatas?
They were an idea I'd gleened from a blog written by some folks at Sunset Magazine...basically, they were a distraction, a new toy if you will, for my chickens. The idea is for them to peck at and eat the cabbage. It's a bit of a challenge since the cabbage is hanging, so it is supposed to give them something to work at and stay busy. When I first hung these cabbage halves, the chickens pretty much ignored them.
But after a little while, a little curiousity was shown. Unfortunately, I couldn't hang out in the coop area all day to find out if my idea was going to go over.
But I did check back a couple of times. A few hours after I'd hung the cabbages, the inside of both had been pecked at a bit.
By the end of the day, the damage was much more extensive. It was kind of cool to see that the idea worked. I also noticed that the big hens seemed to be more lax about the little chicks being there. I didn't see as much chasing and pecking as I had in the couple of days prior.
I think the cabbages helped, it's also helped to have all of the chickens sleeping in the same area. The first evening that the little chicks joined the big hens in their hen house, I had to actually go out and physically put each of the little chicks into the hen house and then close the door so they couldn't get out. The second night I went out at dusk to check on things and only 1 of the 10 little chicks hadn't made her way into the henhouse. She seemed upset and confused that she was all by herself as it was getting dark. I put her inside and again closed the door so no one could get out. It seems that being in the same place and getting used to the sounds and smells of each other is smoothing the process out.
Another distraction I've been using is giving all of the chickens "treats" - piles of collard greens and wild bird seed in several locations in the coop. Having a few areas where there are treat piles keeps the competition for said treats from getting out of control. I don't really know if all of this really is the "right" stuff to do, but it seems to be working so far.
Though I have to admit that in this season of adjustment, I am going to have to expect that a few odd things may happen. Like this egg being laid under the ramp that goes up to the hen house instead of inside the nesting boxes. It's been a long time since one of my hens laid an egg in a weird spot, the last time it happened in fact, was when we were in the midst of having hawk and coyote problems. It seems like stress and change causes the chickens to do odd things. I can only hope that it is going to continue to all work out as the next few weeks pass.
I cut a cabbage into two halves and used a fondue skewer to string each half with twine.
Then I hung each half with a length of twin from the netting that covers the fenced in area where my chickens live.
Why would I do such a thing? What was my plan for these cabbage pinatas?
They were an idea I'd gleened from a blog written by some folks at Sunset Magazine...basically, they were a distraction, a new toy if you will, for my chickens. The idea is for them to peck at and eat the cabbage. It's a bit of a challenge since the cabbage is hanging, so it is supposed to give them something to work at and stay busy. When I first hung these cabbage halves, the chickens pretty much ignored them.
But after a little while, a little curiousity was shown. Unfortunately, I couldn't hang out in the coop area all day to find out if my idea was going to go over.
But I did check back a couple of times. A few hours after I'd hung the cabbages, the inside of both had been pecked at a bit.
By the end of the day, the damage was much more extensive. It was kind of cool to see that the idea worked. I also noticed that the big hens seemed to be more lax about the little chicks being there. I didn't see as much chasing and pecking as I had in the couple of days prior.
I think the cabbages helped, it's also helped to have all of the chickens sleeping in the same area. The first evening that the little chicks joined the big hens in their hen house, I had to actually go out and physically put each of the little chicks into the hen house and then close the door so they couldn't get out. The second night I went out at dusk to check on things and only 1 of the 10 little chicks hadn't made her way into the henhouse. She seemed upset and confused that she was all by herself as it was getting dark. I put her inside and again closed the door so no one could get out. It seems that being in the same place and getting used to the sounds and smells of each other is smoothing the process out.
Though I have to admit that in this season of adjustment, I am going to have to expect that a few odd things may happen. Like this egg being laid under the ramp that goes up to the hen house instead of inside the nesting boxes. It's been a long time since one of my hens laid an egg in a weird spot, the last time it happened in fact, was when we were in the midst of having hawk and coyote problems. It seems like stress and change causes the chickens to do odd things. I can only hope that it is going to continue to all work out as the next few weeks pass.
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