Chicken hormones--not the kind that you get when you buy chicken from your average grocery store--but the ones that make one want to reproduce have invaded the quiet of our girls little house in the city.
Bel is broody again.
The combination of her change in attitude and being contained in small quarters till the snow melts has created much tension between the two girls.
Now, when I feed them, I have to take Bel out of the nesting box (or she won't eat or drink) and bring her down to the food. Apparently, she bothers Cleo. Cleo can't handle Bel's weird clucks and skittishness. Bel can't handle the sudden change from the security of a dark, warm, cozy nesting box to the larger coop.
Cleo is the aggressor. She lunges (and I mean lunges, she bit me the last time) at poor Bel who doesn't understand the nature of her hormonal changes.
How do you teach a chicken that she can't beat up her housemate?
So my only option is to put Cleo out while Bel gets some food and water before she heads back to her nest. It's below zero here so I hope this doesn't last long.
