A Jealous Chicken?

[acates]

I have 6 pullets that are about 3 months old. Well chicken math hit and I decided to take in a rooster that someone couldn't keep because of city ordinance. Well the guy I got him from said he didn't feel right not sending him to his new home without his girl. So I got a breeding pair of Sebrights.
Well I quartined the newbies for 2 Weeks. Then for a day or so I just put the pen near the coop. Then last night I put the new chickens in the coop. Well my new hen was being so mean to the other girls. She was jumping on their backs trying to pull out feathers. chasing them. My chickens were so freaked out they went into the coop and hid.
The sebright is bantam and the other girls are twice her size. What do I do? Is she jealous because she has to share her man? I just want everyone to get along. Thanks

 

[Odelia]

She is use to being the top pullet and she is trying to establish pecking order with herself at the top.

 

[chooks4life]

Banties can be very jealous and pair/family-oriented, but generally more so with the males, not the females; it's more likely that it's just normal hierarchy you're seeing --- she's establishing herself as the alpha hen.

Chances are she's older than your pullets, or at least smarter. Instinct is currency among animals, those who are richer in it are the natural alphas no matter their size, and banties usually have instinct in spades whereas many large fowl are almost devoid of it. Instinctive animals are the most desired mates by the others, too; male or female, my most instinctive animals are always in demand whereas the least instinctive are lucky to ever get mated, male or female.

My banty hens have always been dominant over all the large fowl hens. They know they're smaller, usually, so they know they have to make first impressions count; you will probably see that she's mastered the art of bluffing and frightening them to attain/retain dominance without physical size to back it up.

I haven't had any issues with bully bantams, only bully LFs, but it's possible she's a bully... But you'd need to keep her longer to see if that is the case. If this behavior tones down over the next few days or week, it was just her establishing herself as boss, which is desirable with banties in a mixed flock because needless to say, an LF doing the same to a banty could easily be fatal.

Best wishes.

 

[acates]

Banties can be very jealous and pair/family-oriented, but generally more so with the males, not the females; it's more likely that it's just normal hierarchy you're seeing --- she's establishing herself as the alpha hen.

Chances are she's older than your pullets, or at least smarter. Instinct is currency among animals, those who are richer in it are the natural alphas no matter their size, and banties usually have instinct in spades whereas many large fowl are almost devoid of it. Instinctive animals are the most desired mates by the others, too; male or female, my most instinctive animals are always in demand whereas the least instinctive are lucky to ever get mated, male or female.

My banty hens have always been dominant over all the large fowl hens. They know they're smaller, usually, so they know they have to make first impressions count; you will probably see that she's mastered the art of bluffing and frightening them to attain/retain dominance without physical size to back it up.

I haven't had any issues with bully bantams, only bully LFs, but it's possible she's a bully... But you'd need to keep her longer to see if that is the case. If this behavior tones down over the next few days or week, it was just her establishing herself as boss, which is desirable with banties in a mixed flock because needless to say, an LF doing the same to a banty could easily be fatal.

Best wishes.

She is older by a month. I just don't want any serious injuries. I'm only letting them in the coop together for a few hrs then let them free range together. When they free range there is no problem. The roo was kinda a jerk but then stopped. The bantam female didn't. Hopefully this will stop so I can leave them all be together all the time.

 

[chooks4life]

She is older by a month. I just don't want any serious injuries. I'm only letting them in the coop together for a few hrs then let them free range together. When they free range there is no problem. The roo was kinda a jerk but then stopped. The bantam female didn't. Hopefully this will stop so I can leave them all be together all the time.

Hopefully it will stop soon, most likely I reckon it will. Kinda hard to imagine a Sebright doing serious harm but they are capable... If she won't quit it, and keeps harassing them, you'll know if it's bullying as opposed to just sorting out the pecking order. Really she shouldn't be continuing to attack when they've already shown submission and are trying to get away. Sounds like she's one aggro little hen.

Best wishes.

 

[acates]

Ok I keep trying to put them together and now the sebright roo is joining in. These two little birds are reaking havoc. Why do they keep chasing down all the other girls? Their just not happy unless the other birds are in the coop. They seem to get along when they are free ranging but not inside the coop and run. I also tried to separate the sebrights and leave only the female in the coop then tried the same with the roo. They both could somewhat get along with the others that way. So do I separate them for a couple days? Anytime any of them get close to the roo the hen attacks and anytime they get close to the hen the rooster attacks. Someone help please!

 

[Tuhmu]

That month difference in age is making a big difference I believe but it sounds like they are establishing their pecking order, as long as there's no blood everyone should be fine within a couple of days. I know it is hard to witness but it is in their nature to do so.

 

[acates]

That month difference in age is making a big difference I believe but it sounds like they are establishing their pecking order, as long as there's no blood everyone should be fine within a couple of days. I know it is hard to witness but it is in their nature to do so.

It is hard to watch. I'm afraid if I lock them up in the coop at night I'm going to find a bloody mess in the morning. How long does this usually go on for?

 

[chooks4life]

Ok I keep trying to put them together and now the sebright roo is joining in.

If you are intervening and separating them nonstop you're preventing it from coming to its conclusion. This almost always results in greater harm to the subordinate animals, which is why I don't recommend anyone keep a rooster who intrudes into hen-fights --- intervening is not solving the problem, it only makes it worse and prolongs it. Third parties cannot solve a problem between two others. You won't see a hen intervening in her chicks' fights either, and for good reason.

This could actually be jealousy, but territorial jealousy. Many of my bantams have this strong territorial instinct over areas they perceive as being their territory, but they've all learned to get along as I don't keep bullies.

Sounds like they're possibly protecting one another, which is fairly understandable for such small birds, but still not acceptable when there is no legitimate challenge or threat. These birds have been given long enough, in separate cages, to get used to the sight and sound of the others, you've done the right thing there, it's actually fairly strange they're carrying on the way they are. I would expect, since my experiences have only confirmed this, that it's heritable and you can expect more of the rampaging tyrant behavior from their offspring...

But it's still too soon to say, and if you're inadvertently creating more problems by intervening regularly, it wouldn't reflect on them so much as on the fact that they keep being separated and reintroduced, which triggers the urge to reestablish their hierarchy status every single time, and eventually gives the alphas the impression that the subordinates are not respecting them, which leads to escalated violence.

It is hard to watch. I'm afraid if I lock them up in the coop at night I'm going to find a bloody mess in the morning. How long does this usually go on for?

With true bullies it goes on for the rest of their lives.

With socially balanced and peaceful birds it often doesn't happen at all, or there may be a short-lived initial hierarchy challenge scuffle, no harm done.

With most birds, within family lines where no breeders have consistently selected for flock cohesion, plenty of violence is common. Many people 'solve' this by removing the victims, which doesn't stop the bullies from choosing more victims with each generation. I solve it by not breeding bullies, which permanently solves it. It's entirely up to you what you do, but it is still early and things may settle down.

Obviously your Sebrights aren't very peaceful and calm individuals, to be still attacking when the others aren't challenging them, (unless the others are challenging them, deliberately or otherwise) but there's a few reasons that could be the case, i.e. constant reintroductions before the hierarchy is steady and settled.

It's possible the Sebrights were used to being able to have a cage to themselves and were able to drive out all birds they didn't like, but being restricted is stopping the unwanted birds from leaving their territory. If this is the case then you may have to just separately cage the Sebrights from the others, perhaps permanently, but still I'd give them time to see if they settle.

If you are at all able to freerange them where you are, it can help a lot, but bullies are only permanently stopped by culling. If you are able to build a separate coop it may help too, but it's only managing the problem, not solving it, as they will breed intolerance on. But you'd need to wait a bit longer and see if it settles down before you know for sure. If they are chasing the others when the others aren't approaching them, that's bullying. If the others are approaching them, to some birds that's provocation.

But, if you're separating them every time there is a fight, you're effectively creating a new challenge every time you bring them back together. You have to leave them together after the fights to settle into a new hierarchy. If you intervene, you should do so only if you mean to permanently intervene ---- otherwise you are making it worse and stopping it from being solved.

Best wishes.

 

[acates]

I put them in the coop overnight and everyone got along. no blood. They are calming down now that I stopped intervening. I think she's just establishing herself. Thanks for all the help.