Daisy (Amber Star, recovering from pneumonia) is much better now. Lily (White Star) and Milly (Cream Legbar) are moulting and look awful.
Florence (Australorp, not yet laying) follows me around, crouching whenever I turn to her; Roobarb (Welsh Black, not yet laying) continues to run around, and has taken to flying up on to the walk in trun, and then across to the top bars of the fruit cage; Custard (Sasso, recently started laying) is in currently "in" with both the Oldies and the Newbies.
The problem is 'Tilda. Or rather, how horrible the others are being to her.
Tilda is a Sasso, half sister to Custard, and is a really lovely girl. She's bottom of the pecking order, which isn't very nice, but I do understand that someone has to be bottom. The behaviour which I am finding upsetting, is just how horrible the others are being to her. Even her hatch-mates now chase her away when they are free ranging outside. When they are in the Run, she tends to sit on one of the perches - I've put food and drink at perch level so that she can always eat and drink in peace.
When I scatter corn, she comes to join the others to eat it but most of the time (that I see) she is always separate to the others.
I know that Florence was also chased away, until she reached point of lay (where she started crouching), so there is part of me which is hoping that things will settle down when Tilda reaches that point as well.
In the meantime, it's really distressing me to see Tilda so picked on. I am thankful that she isn't being physically pecked; I do know that someone has to be bottom and that whoever it was I would probably feel the same. But the reason I am particularly upset is because Tilda is physically misshapen, and I am concerned that this is contributing to her ostracisation. She's such a lovely girl.
Florence (Australorp, not yet laying) follows me around, crouching whenever I turn to her; Roobarb (Welsh Black, not yet laying) continues to run around, and has taken to flying up on to the walk in trun, and then across to the top bars of the fruit cage; Custard (Sasso, recently started laying) is in currently "in" with both the Oldies and the Newbies.
The problem is 'Tilda. Or rather, how horrible the others are being to her.
Tilda is a Sasso, half sister to Custard, and is a really lovely girl. She's bottom of the pecking order, which isn't very nice, but I do understand that someone has to be bottom. The behaviour which I am finding upsetting, is just how horrible the others are being to her. Even her hatch-mates now chase her away when they are free ranging outside. When they are in the Run, she tends to sit on one of the perches - I've put food and drink at perch level so that she can always eat and drink in peace.
When I scatter corn, she comes to join the others to eat it but most of the time (that I see) she is always separate to the others.
I know that Florence was also chased away, until she reached point of lay (where she started crouching), so there is part of me which is hoping that things will settle down when Tilda reaches that point as well.
In the meantime, it's really distressing me to see Tilda so picked on. I am thankful that she isn't being physically pecked; I do know that someone has to be bottom and that whoever it was I would probably feel the same. But the reason I am particularly upset is because Tilda is physically misshapen, and I am concerned that this is contributing to her ostracisation. She's such a lovely girl.
