HELP!!

[Egglayer123]

One of my older hens is pecking at the others and i thnk she gna severly hurt them, i had her in a different pen 4 a while but she was able to see the other hens and i let them free range 2 gether but put her back in her seperate pen at night! i just recently put her in with the other hens as i thought she would be ok, she was grand 4 the first 2 days but shes has started it all again!! she is even eating the others feathers!!!! any ideas on what i can do??
Would much appriciate
Thanks
(Excuses my spelling :/)

 

[7L Farm]

Seperate her for a month that will throw a curve ball in the pecking order.

 

[Egglayer123]

But i already had her separted!! and shes not back in with the others long..

 

[rikithemonk]

Chickens are social animals. As strange as it sounds, chicken flocks are very much like wolf packs. There is a social order, with an Alpha Chicken at the top and a number 2 bird, a number three bird, Etc. What you did was to separate her out of that social order. With her removed the order shifted and the new rankings got locked in place. Now, you toss her back into the flock and she has no place there. she has to fit herself into the pecking order.

You have two choices.

1) Leave things alone and allow them to work out the new social order. Which really shouldn't take long.

2) Remove her and leave her isolated. Not really a good choice because chickens are social animals and they get odd if kept isolated.

Riki

 

[Egglayer123]

thanks for the advice!! yea i might keep her in and see how she gets on! therd be times but were she wouldnt let the other hens out of the coop :/ how long do you think i should leave it?
Tanks again!!

 

[rikithemonk]

thanks for the advice!! yea i might keep her in and see how she gets on! therd be times but were she wouldnt let the other hens out of the coop :/ how long do you think i should leave it?
Tanks again!!

I'm not certain, to be honest with you. You will just have to watch things and see how it goes. If the fighting is just bumping pecking and general bullying I would leave it alone. They will work it out eventually among themselves. If its getting vicious to the point where real harm is taking place, then you have to step in.

I'm experiencing something similar right now. I have a new coop and originally put 5, 8 week old girls in there. After about a week I decided that my coop would most likely support a few more, so I added two, bringing the total number of birds up to seven. I reasoned that having only been there for about a week, that the pecking order wouldn't be set in stone yet and the new birds wouldn't be picked on too badly. So far things are going well. We introduced them Friday evening and watched them interact all weekend. There are occasional fights but nothing more than chest bumping and jumping and the occasional peck. The fights are over in seconds. Today is Monday and I believe that the brood is integrating well.

Riki

 

[Egglayer123]

I maight have to take her out because i think its getting a wee bit out of hand!! thers no bumping.. she would chase them around the run jus 2 peck at them!! i dont want to get rid of her because i love her egss :/

 

[7L Farm]

I've seperated some in my flock for over a month while they were growing their feathers back & then added them back to the flock.