Chickens fighting all of a sudden??

[Mrs. K]

It really does not matter about the roosts, or the hiding spaces, this is not a peaceful flock. It is very disheartening to be with a flock in this state of turmoil. Pull one of the younger birds. Try pulling the bully first, if another bird starts attacking the victim, then put the bully back in and try pulling the victim.

Usually one of those solutions will work. Being raised together means nothing to chickens. They are not wired like that. If one of these work, you need to remove the other from the flock. Not all birds will fit in any flock and set up, some will never fit, no matter what you do and to keep trying causes a lot of strife, which is very hard even on the birds not part of the fight.

Once they start laying, they usually are accepted by the older birds, so it surprises me that they still are not.

However, always solve for peace in the flock. Wishing they will all be nice will not work.

Mrs K

 

[BigBlueHen53]

We had this issue briefly. Here's how we solved it. Take the bully out and put her on the floor in a wire dog crate but keep the crate in the coop so she is still part of the flock, she just can't bully anyone. Keep her there 3 nights, then watch to see how she does. If she bullies again, repeat 3 more nights. We did not have to repeat a third time. She had an attitude adjustment. No more problems!

 

[rkapfen]

We had this issue briefly. Here's how we solved it. Take the bully out and put her on the floor in a wire dog crate but keep the crate in the coop so she is still part of the flock, she just can't bully anyone. Keep her there 3 nights, then watch to see how she does. If she bullies again, repeat 3 more nights. We did not have to repeat a third time. She had an attitude adjustment. No more problems!

I was thinking of trying something like this. Thank you!

 

[aart]

You might also be able to add a divider to the roost.
Please post pics of your coop, inside and out.

 

[imnukensc]

I'd put pinless peepers on the bully(ies). Separating the bully(ies) hasn't worked for me, but pinless peepers did.

 

[sarahconnor]

Are these two laying? If not the one biting is about to start.
They get unreasonably mean a couple weeks before.

That’s new knowledge to me as a follower if this thread. Thanks.
Also, hope the commotion settles down soon.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I was thinking of trying something like this. Thank you!

I hope it works for you! Keep us posted.

 

[rkapfen]

You might also be able to add a divider to the roost.
Please post pics of your coop, inside and out.

This is my set up. I have two roost on either side. Each the same height. The little one of the two has decided it’s easier to start sleeping in the nesting boxes so I guess I’ll let her for now.

 

[SurferchickinSB]

Hey everyone! I’ll try an catch you up on the issue. I raised 2 chicks that are now 6 months old and added them to my original flock of 5. Everything has been fine. One of the girls in my original flock never liked the new ones and she will bite and chase them but overall everyone was fine and the two younger had each other but now one of the younger ones is attacked the other young one. She will literally chase her around the yard to bite her. I feel so bad for her now cause she has no one and keeps trying to cuddle with her sister and keeps getting attacked. She won’t even let her roost next to her. In fact this one chicken won’t let anyone roost next to her. Does anyone else have this issue? Is this common? When they go to bed it’s always a disaster now with so much screaming and fighting going on and I’m having to rearrange them next to other chickens to stop fighting. Am I just being too sensitive to their chicken drama or is this not normal? I just want them all to be happy and healthy and it’s killing me to hear them scream when getting built. They have a nice large coop and they free range from morning to night in the yard so I don’t think boredom/too tight a space is the problem. Any ideas to help?

It sounds normal as much as we don’t like it. I think it is normal for them, lol...

 

[EggWalrus]

I already have a rooster, he doesn’t seem to be helping lol he screams when they attack each other but doesn’t really do anything else lol

Doesn't sound like any rooster I've ever seen. Sounds more like a punk sissy hanging around till he gets to help make some Roo Stew.
I think your problem might be that you need MORE CHICKENS! The more you have, the more they form their own little tribes. There's still pecking order but when there's more chickens, there's more going on to distract them from picking on one particular bird.
You Need More Chickens!