Advice.... anyone....

[kasfluv]

I have two hens, one hatched and raised the other. The younger is now, almost, 13 months old - not sure how old the “mom” is, possibly 2-3years old. All has been great, until about two months ago when the pecking of “pecking order” started to become a bit more aggressive.
Today, it turned into a full on feather plucking incident. Don’t want it to get any worse!!
These girls are very lucky!! Have a beautiful, large area for free ranging, multiple nesting boxes, plenty of attention, and are very loved.
Any ideas how to stop the aggression by one on the other - and any suggestions as to why this has started would be greatly appreciated!!
Thank you BYC for a being place I know I can come to for answers!!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

How big is the coop? Is anyone acting broody?

 

[kasfluv]

Coop is HUGE! About 30’ X 15’ - an entire side yard area. And the girls free range [with a close eye kept on them] for most of the day....
The aggressive one is a very Broody girl, could be she is about to become broody again (?). She has laid 17 eggs since ending her last brood.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Broody hens are moody, and others will fight with them. I can always tell when someone is getting broody. It could be the source of their fighting.

 

[Dr.GarryTTucker]

If it’s one particular that’s being a bully, you can remove her for 24-48 hours and she will have to be reestablished in the pecking order. She will get reshuffled and start from the bottom up. Typically I’ve seen folks remove for a day or two and the bully starts from the ground up and she get put in proper order