A couple of questions from an amateur!

[positivepolly]

Evening!

We have 4 lovely ladies (photos on profile!), 2 of which we brought home in February (the red ones) and the white ladies are new to the garden, brought home around 3 weeks ago.

They sparred a bit at first, and now seem to have settled in quite well, however the red chickens still chase the white ones every now and again. I'm not worried about this at all - just the "pecking order" taking place I guess! However what I am worried about is the 2 red chickens both pecking and effectively "stamping" on the white chickens head as the other pecks. Is this normal? The one they are "bullying" just sits there and takes it; if we are witness to it we break it up straight away but I feel sorry for the white ladies for being bullied!!

Also, our larger red chicken tends to have a, umm, shitty backside! Alot of cling-ons (sorry!!!!) and at one point had a feather stuck up there! DP was brave and clipped most of the feathers off that were "clumped" last night, but now worried about infection etc. None of the other chickens have this problem - all very clean. Is this normal or something we need to keep an eye on?

the pecking order is normal. It's really unpleasant to witness - you could try bumper bits on the bully beaks.

Have you wormed them with flubenvet? pooey bums can be an indecator of this. I usually wash my chicken's bum if she's 'runny' and dry her off with an old towel.

Also try the forums on the omlet website for info - the ladies are really helpful and keen amateur chicken keepers like ourselves.

thanks for your reply - We've not wormed them at all, so will head on down to the nearest pet shop and get some ASAP!

Will have a look on omlet, thank you for the redommendation.

make sure it's flubenvet! Available from feed suppliers - usually the agricultural ones that do horse stuff!

I usually hold my dirty hen over a bucket of water and wash her with an old towel = wearing my rubber gloves of course. Try not to clip feathers as it can go too far and you can cut into the quick.