[denise and joe]

hello i hav 3 polish bantams, 1 male 2 female and hav had them for bout 2 weeks. they seem 2 hav settled well and roam my small garden during the day, although they are only laying 1 egg every other day-i am not sure which hen is laying or if it is both of them. hwever 1 hen has just lost all her long tail feathers and last night didnt take herself off into the house with the others at dusk- i had 2 searchthe garden and was v worried that i had lost her.could she be being picked on by the others? if so how do i deal with it. i do hav a few cats visiting my garden and am nt sure if 1 has tried to catch her. any help appreciated as she is a lovely girl and dnt want 2 see her miserable thanks.

[Ruby Red]

 
  Wow ! Im so glad youve sent this. Im not hijacking but. . . .I have 6 assorted hens that have been together for 3 years and have always got on. My smallest , a Belgium Danvers, has always been the bossy one and first in the house. In the last week SHE hasnt been going in the house and I have had to look for her under the bushes. She sits by herself looking hunched up and miserable. She still has an appetite and drinks though.  I have to put her in the coop at night. In the morning when I let the others in the run, she goes to the food and water then scuttles off to a corner and stays by herself a bit. Because she doesnt move much, shes tending to get a mucky backend and when I cleaned her yesterday I too noticed that she has lost a few feathers. I look forward to reading any replies you may get as I was going to post anyway.

[lucylou]

hi there, over the last few days one of my araucanas has lost a lot of tail feathers - i thought she was starting to moult as her bahaviour isnt any different, it did cross my mind that one of the others might be plucking them out but there is no evedince of that.  They are enclosed so i know she hasnt been attacked by anything.  i will keep a note on her behaviour and update if it changes. hope your little hen gets back to her usual self very soon.  Lucylou.