i have aquired a friends flock of 3 girls. i have got 5 of my own. they were in their own runs for the first day and half and the noise was horrendous.. the 3 new ones were bought by my friend last year a few weeks after i had purchased mine from the same farm... on checking out new hens i noticed that their beaks didnt look right and one was very aggressive towards it own flock.. i understand that there has to be pecking order but it was rediculous with the amount of pecking she was doing..
i let them out together with mine and oh my god did they fight! .. after getting them apart and putting them in their run i checked on the new girls and one was bleeding from comb... she would not let anyone near her to clean it up so left her and friends on there own..
i got my dad to come over as he has had chickens and worked with them all his life, he got her out put her wings in a strange position and she was very calm and just sat still until he checked her out and then he just let her go with my own birds... the fighting began again he just tapped them on their behinds they looked very shocked and walked away .. one after the other they fought until they had all had a go and was disgusted at being touched by him.... my dad said that the beaks of the new birds had been electo removed and would have been to stop them fighting at farm... when they were bought by my friend they was supposed to be only 20 weeks and pol ...
my questions are:-
is it standard practise to remove beaks from pol if they fight ??
as i thought this was only done on a battery farm and at 20 weeks seems young to be to have no end of beak..
one of the new girls has been in moult for the last 4-5 months .. i didnt think it took so long.
i have got the girls all out together and fighting still erupts i have to watch all the time .. how long does it take for two flocks to settle into one??
the dominant bird in new flock is feeling sorry for her self and sitting head and tail down.. is there anything i can do for her to make her feel better??
i know that this is long and would like to thank you for your time in reading however i just want what is best for all round xxx