Aggressive hen out of nowhere

[Nicolecarranza]

Hello! One of my hens (RIR) out of nowhere decided to start attacking one of my other girls(silkie). Neither of them are at the top of the pecking order and the RIR is only aggressive to this one hen and not the others. I thought it would resolve after a day or so but it seems to be getting more aggressive. The RIR is holding her down and plucking her feathers out. Now my silkie hen is afraid to leave the coop/nesting area. She just paces around on edge.

Does anyone have any advice what I can do to stop this behavior? Any idea what could have caused it? I know people say RIR are an aggressive breed but she has never showed signs of aggression before and they have lived together for almost 2 years now.

Thanks so much for any insight you can provide.

 

[Chookchicken]

Likely she just decided she wanted to be more dominant. Though, you should check the Silkie chicken for disease just in case. You can try chicken jail. You remove the problematic chicken from the coop for a few days. How many waterers and feeders do you have? How big is your coop?

 

[Nicolecarranza]

Likely she just decided she wanted to be more dominant. Though, you should check the Silkie chicken for disease just in case. You can try chicken jail. You remove the problematic chicken from the coop for a few days. How many waterers and feeders do you have? How big is your coop?

The silkie seems ok. She is eating and drinking normal. She just got off a broody stint so hasn’t started laying again yet. What signs should I look for?

The coop has a covered run that is 52sf and a hen house that is 15sf. They also have access to a contained run every day
from sunrise to sunset that is roughly 150sf. I only have 5 hens so they should have plenty of room. I have 1 feeder and 2 waters for them.

 

[Chookchicken]

The silkie seems ok. She is eating and drinking normal. She just got off a broody stint so hasn’t started laying again yet. What signs should I look for?

The coop has a covered run that is 52sf and a hen house that is 15sf. They also have access to a contained run every day
from sunrise to sunset that is roughly 150sf. I only have 5 hens so they should have plenty of room. I have 1 feeder and 2 waters for them.

I’d say her getting off being broody is probably what’s causing it. Often they have a smell when they are broody and getting off being broody that the other hens don’t recognise. I find that the hens can sometimes get confused with them being diseased and try and get them out of the flock. Normally it gets better after a few weeks.

I’d separate the problematic hen for a few days and see if that changes anything. Otherwise if you don’t want to do that you can leave it and see if it gets better. They have plenty of space. The only thing is make sure your Silkie is getting access to food, if she isn’t you should look into getting another feeder.

 

[Nicolecarranza]

I’d say her getting off being broody is probably what’s causing it. Often they have a smell when they are broody and getting off being broody that the other hens don’t recognise. I find that the hens can sometimes get confused with them being diseased and try and get them out of the flock. Normally it gets better after a few weeks.

I’d separate the problematic hen for a few days and see if that changes anything. Otherwise if you don’t want to do that you can leave it and see if it gets better. They have plenty of space. The only thing is make sure your Silkie is getting access to food, if she isn’t you should look into getting another feeder.

Ok thank you for your advice! I really appreciate it!