It has becoming very apparent in the recent weeks that we have a problem chicken on our hands. Camilla the Hen has become a world class pain-in-the-butt… escaping the yard, squawking about anything and everything, and bullying the other girls. We’re now positive that she is the one who has been pecking at Georgia’s back & tail feathers, leaving her poor little back all bald and bloodied.
This sent me into an immediate panic. Georgia happens to be my favorite of the girls, and I hate the thought of her being bullied. I did some research on why Camilla may be acting this way, and we’ve done the following to avoid having to cull {kill} her.
- gave them lots of free-range time in the backyard everyday since
- fed them extra protein & treats {ground beef, scratch, sunflower seeds}
- applied Blue Kote to Georgia’s bald spot to help her heal & hide the blood
It all seemed to be working until tonight when I put them back together in the coop after a long day free-ranging. Camilla wasn’t able to roam the yard because she escaped yesterday and wound up on our front porch eating cat food… we have no idea how she knew to come up onto the porch and we’re so happy she didn’t wander out into the street. As soon as we put Georgia inside with Camilla, Camilla lashed out and starting pecking at her bald spot again. It was so awful… Georgia just took it and wouldn’t even run away.
I swept her up and brought her into the house. We applied the Blue Kote again to avoid infection and Justin and I made a bandage for her out of duct-tape {I saw it online}. I made a “pad” out of duct-tape so it wouldn’t stick to the wound, and then attached it onto her feathers with longer strips. She doesn’t seem bothered by it, but she sure looks pathetic. We’re keeping her in the kitchen until the other girls fall asleep. Tomorrow, we’ll figure out what to do with Camilla and start to set-up a place in the yard where they can all free-range safely.
Free eggs ain’t so free.
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