hannibalfarm6
In the Brooder
- Jul 27, 2019
- 8
- 2
- 29
Hi everyone,
I have a flock of 5 Pekins, 3 females and 2 males (4 months old) that I incubated and hatched myself. They have always got along and they have lived together in harmony. The 2 males have never been overly aggressive.
Some backstory: One of my females (my sweet Piper) developed a Niacin deficiency that I treated her for, and she will never walk the same as the others, but after much treatment and trips to the vet, she has been doing the best she has in her life! She used to sit alone under a tree by our pond and join the others when she could, but now she has been swimming with them, walking amazing, and cleaning herself, and I am so proud of how far she has come. Although she is still smaller than the others, they have really welcomed her back into the flock, and they even wait for her sometimes to catch up!
Back to the issue at hand, this morning I let them out of their house, and Piper had some rawness on the back of her neck from missing feathers, and some more rawness under her wings. After watching I have noticed one male, in particular, has been more aggressive towards her. After going back and checking on them a little later, my poor Piper was hiding back inside the house, while the others were swimming, in the corner behind a bag of feed. I took her and separated her with her own food and water, and in a cage with my other 2 Pekins (separated of course) so she does not get lonely.
How do I fix this issue? Should I also separate the aggressive male? Is this just aggressive mating, or something more? I figure maybe because she is bigger and stronger the males now want to mate, but this has not happened to my other two females.
Thank you! I really want to keep both of them so I hope there is a solution!
I have a flock of 5 Pekins, 3 females and 2 males (4 months old) that I incubated and hatched myself. They have always got along and they have lived together in harmony. The 2 males have never been overly aggressive.
Some backstory: One of my females (my sweet Piper) developed a Niacin deficiency that I treated her for, and she will never walk the same as the others, but after much treatment and trips to the vet, she has been doing the best she has in her life! She used to sit alone under a tree by our pond and join the others when she could, but now she has been swimming with them, walking amazing, and cleaning herself, and I am so proud of how far she has come. Although she is still smaller than the others, they have really welcomed her back into the flock, and they even wait for her sometimes to catch up!
Back to the issue at hand, this morning I let them out of their house, and Piper had some rawness on the back of her neck from missing feathers, and some more rawness under her wings. After watching I have noticed one male, in particular, has been more aggressive towards her. After going back and checking on them a little later, my poor Piper was hiding back inside the house, while the others were swimming, in the corner behind a bag of feed. I took her and separated her with her own food and water, and in a cage with my other 2 Pekins (separated of course) so she does not get lonely.
How do I fix this issue? Should I also separate the aggressive male? Is this just aggressive mating, or something more? I figure maybe because she is bigger and stronger the males now want to mate, but this has not happened to my other two females.
Thank you! I really want to keep both of them so I hope there is a solution!
