Anti-social chicken

[Peppercorngal]

I have a "free spirit" hen too. I named her Blondie and she absolutely will not roost in the coop or the run. She wants to be out on her own. She does get along with the chickens during the day, and even has a companion named Red. They will both jump into my lap and go to sleep there! But she will not sleep the night enclosed. I worry a predator will get her, but I let her be for now. I've never had a girl like her!

 

[50-45-1]

i had a little jap bantam hen once called Little Bit, who was very bossy to the other full sized chickens. if she wanted to eat she would just walk up, announce herself vocally and everybody else would move away. she was definitely at the top of the pecking order. i thought to my self, that if she ever gets knocked out of that top spot, and start to get picked on herself,the bigger chickens could really hurt her as she was so much smaller then them. i really admired her strength and determination given her size.

 

[PTA Chicks]

Thanks for all your advice We've been working with her and today she has spent the day with my little Bantam rooster. She hatched him and raised him to 12 weeks old so he's not a stranger to him,but she began picking on him and hurting him badly. Today,after not being near him for a good few months,she seems to be submitting to him. She's not being aggressive towards him and has allowed him to mate with her once (that I saw). He calls her for food and she comes.

Do you think it would be OK to put her in the big coop with him and the other 6 girls? They're pretty laid back Lohmann layers. They put rooster Frizz in his place when he joined them at 12 weeks old (that was an unplanned event),but did it quite gently (for chickens that is,no bloodshed!)

I'm hoping that because my white Bantam (Snow White) seems to be accepted by and according of rooster Frizz it will be easier to add her to the flock?

 

[azygous]

You know your chickens better then we do, but even so, no one can really predict how chickens are going to roll. Each has their own agenda as well as relationship to one another that can cause any integration to get.....ahem.....creative. All you can do is try it and see what unfolds.

 

[PTA Chicks]

Well it was pretty much a disaster. Snow White looked around and promptly jumped on and bit and clawed at the closest chicken. When the others came to rescue the victim,she turned on them till eventually I had to step in because the odds weren't great 1:6 And Bantam Frizz just stood there crowing at everyone! So back to her own space. We're going to build her a small shelter and let her free range as much as she wants to.

 

[azygous]

If she were a human, she'd be living on an out-of-the-way mountain far away from other humans so she wouldn't end up in jail. Oh, wait. That's me.

 

[PTA Chicks]

If she were a human, she'd be living on an out-of-the-way mountain far away from other humans so she wouldn't end up in jail. Oh, wait. That's me.

I'm the same, but everything I read says chickens are social so I just didn't want to do her harm by keeping her alone. I'm going to put her shelter near the others so she has the company if she wants it.

 

[azygous]

Chickens are social, but they vary in their need to be in the social mix. For some, it's enough to be in proximity to the others but not to have direct contact.

Humans are also considered social animals, (some even say "herd animals"), but while some feel the need to always be in the midst of human activity, others are "contemplative" and need only occasional human contact. So it can be with chicken individuals.

I have a Speckled Sussex in her own coop and run that can't stay out of fights when she's permitted to free range with the others. One of the roosters hates her so much, he's torn her up pretty badly in the past. She has a friend who lives in exile with her, and the two get along very well after the Sussex totally beat her up and declared victory by crowing three times.

The two may appear to be lonely, but they are in full view of the flock and can communicate through a common barrier when they feel like it. For some chickens, this is plenty of exposure to the flock to give them the sense of well being chickens derive from other chickens.