Aggressive hen? Or something else?

[StarKat]

Okay, I'm going nuts. Warning for mention of wounds, I'm posting in this area as this is about the behavior causing it.

So, we have one hen who keeps ripping out the other hens feathers. This eventually led to her eating a deep hole in ones side. I isolated that hen and got her healed up, then put her back in. During that, I started giving the hens some food with water added (not fermented or whatever y'all do lol). This seemed to help the aggressive get full faster and the feather pulling got better. So I thought maybe it was just a food issue? Plus this gives them two feeders now. But a couple weeks ago, we lost the leader hen. Now this tyrant has been ripping out feathers again, chasing like crazy, and finally ate a hole in someone yet again. All the other hens are scared of her and won't fight back. While treating this next hen who's almost healed now, I found she has caused a surface wound and bruising on another hen. Thankfully it's not bad and is hidden under her wing well, but the aggressive hen knows it's there and is trying to get at it. I only have one isolation cage, but tomorrow morning I'm putting the aggressive one in and keeping an eye on the injured one that has a more exposed wound- (Though it's mostly healed over now) Yes yes I know, not a great idea to put her in with the others with a sore still but I can't let this maniac keep eating everyone. I let the hens out of the run for supervised freedom along with the one I have kept locked up and the only one trying to rip at it is that one hen, so I'm hoping no one gets any funny ideas when she's in with them all. I can't risk the other that's now taking a beating getting a hole ripped in her next as I can't cram two injured hens in the cage.

Please, for the love of everything, how do I make this wacko quit eating everyone?! Or more so stop the feather pulling and eating that leads to it. I tried giving her cooked egg and mealworms for extra protein as I read it could be a protein issue, but nothing. Added a bottle of seed with holes in it as a toy, only distracted her for about a day then she went right back to ripping out feathers. Will isolation for about a week work maybe? Or is that too extreme? I refuse to put her down over this and I am insistent on stopping this issue. She was the "second in command" so to speak of the leader that died, and when I think about it this issue started when I was bringing the lead hen in for treatment (that sadly was not enough after a two month effort) so I wonder if this is dominance fighting gone wrong. Could she just be having a massive powertrip? I think she sees herself as in charge now but that's clearly not a good thing. She used to be a big sweet baby just a couple months ago...And now she's a menace. She even gives me the stink eye when I tell her to stop attacking someone.

In case it matters, she's a couple weeks off from being a year old, and she's a Cuckoo marans. (the non feather leg kind)

 

[sourland]

You can try putting Pin Less Peepers on her and see if that stops her behavior. If she were in my flock, she would have to become soup.

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

I had my girls do this once… turned out the breed needed more protein then production layers do a layer feed supplies and is a common problem with the breed, if they are just fed layer feed. I separated birds, I only had a few so not to hard to see if I could correct the problem… it did. They where good after that. I figured if I could not fix the problem I would cull.

Adventures in chicken keeping

 

[nuthatched]

She would have been chopped the first time she did it, but since you want to keep this cannibal, um, what kind of food do they eat and how big is their area?
Seperating her for a while is not extreme and it probably won't work. If you refuse to cull her, can you at least find the rest of your flock new homes so they don't have to live under that stress? This chicken my be best as a 'single child'.

 

[Tonyroo]

Once a chicken becomes a cannibal there's no turning back from it.

 

[Ebony Rose]

/Quote: Please, for the love of everything, how do I make this wacko quit eating everyone?! Or more so stop the feather pulling and eating that leads to it. /Unquote

Have you considered eating HER? Aggression is hereditary in chickens and this type of aggression with the feather pulling and just being an outright bully is very difficult to modify. I'd not want to raise ANY of her young.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

She sounds like a bully. You might need to rehome her as PET to someone who wants only one chicken pet.

You can try putting her in jail for 1-2 months and see if that works for her. You can also try Pinless Peepers. (Don't keep those on too long because they can cause problems for her nostrils.) You can also try debeaking her as a last resort. I urge either rehoming as pet and/or jail.

 

[aart]

She would have been chopped the first time she did it, but since you want to keep this cannibal, um, what kind of food do they eat and how big is their area?

Ditto Dat!