Yesterday was a very rough day for one of my Girls. I went out to give them some leftovers yesterday morning and noticed this hen, who I named Bitsy, had a big patch of feather torn out from her back and side, and was bleeding. It didn't take long to figure out she had been attacked. But not by a fox or racoon; the fencing and doors were very secure so nothing got in. She had been attacked by her four sisters. As soon as I told my Favorite Cousin about this (she also raises chickens) she said that the others attacked her to establish the proverbial pecking order. I guess losing their other sister a couple of weeks ago got the hierarchy out of whack or something like that.
There wasn't anything I could do for her - it's not like you would take a chicken to the vet. So I just said a prayer for her not to be in pain or suffer. She moved around some yesterday - I went out about every hour to check on her and each time she was in a different spot. And the same thing this morning - she had moved and was sitting down underneath the coop, hopefully a safe spot for her.
I gave the other four Girls a big earful yesterday, for all it was worth.
As always, stay tuned.
No comments:
Post a Comment