Disaster in the Fortress of Attitude

The Bald Ladies didn’t get their name from Hen Pattern Baldness, of course. It’s almost certainly my fault. They started pecking each other bald last winter, and never got over it even after they got better and more spacious accommodations.

And the brunt of it always fell on the smallest, as I suppose is natural. In the past few weeks, while they’ve been in molt, I’ve watched with approval as the two baldest, including the smallest, grew new suits of feathers. Maybe we were past all this unpleasantness.

I’m still learning this “chicken farming” thing. Last night it all went to hell. I woke to the sound of a chicken in serious distress, and when I came outside the smallest was in a bad way. From the cape down she’s as bald as if I’d plucked her myself, and it went far beyond that: The straw in the corner where she was cowering was copiously spattered with blood. The biggest and most aggressive of the hens was working hard at pecking her to death.

I isolated the little one in the chicken house and contemplated my alternatives while driving to landlady’s to get the carrier: I can:

A) Butcher the smallest one. I may have to anyway now that her new feathers are gone, or lose the meat. Winter will be cold. Possible Downside: The aggressor will just attack the next smallest, which till now has stayed out of the fray.

B) Butcher the aggressor. That has a sociopolitical ring to it that pleases me, but I long ago decided I was going to stay away from that sort of thing. The chickens are food and my decisions concerning them don’t fall into any philosophical dialectic. The Very Real Downside of butchering this one is that she’s the best layer of the three.

C) Butcher all three and wait for the Brahmas to come on line. Honestly, that option has a certain charm. The Bald Ladies were always an early experiment, and I’m pleasantly surprised they lived as long as they have. But even in molt they’re still the only chickens that occasionally lay an egg. Killing is a permanent solution to what may be a temporary problem. Instead, for now, let’s go with:

D) Separate them. Move the aggressor in with the Brahmas. The smallest Brahma is now at least twice her size, and the biggest could stomp her to death. Possible Downsides: Disease infection? I doubt it very much, both flocks are physically healthy. They’ll kill her? Then I watch for that and butcher her myself. I’m not seeing any permanent downsides to that option.

Right now I have her isolated in a carrier, awaiting Landlady’s okay to release her in with the Brahmas.