Bad tempered Betty

[Sandra Verbreyt]

I have 3 chickens Ruby (cochin) and Betty and Brownie (Silkies).
I bought Betty and Brownie at the same time from the same batch of chickens. I have had them now for 4 months and all 3 chickens have got on well until today.
Betty has become very angry and keeps attacking Brownie who is a lot smaller than Betty.
Does anybody know why Betty has decided to attack Brownie. Any advice please? Or will Betty just be having a bad day?
Any advice please,

 

[aart]

Did you get them as chicks?
Might Betty be a Boy?

Show us your coop and run...dimensions and pics.

 

[Sandra Verbreyt]

Did you get them as chicks?
Might Betty be a Boy?

Show us your coop and run...dimensions and pics.

Betty lays an egg every day at the moment so I guess Betty is female. She is a very very vocal little lady but can be quite mean lately also. I just dont understand why she has began pecking at the little one. She does not challenge Ruby my Cochin as Ruby will stand up for herself but the little one is a bit scared of Betty and her mean ways

 

[aart]

Betty lays an egg every day at the moment so I guess Betty is female. She is a very very vocal little lady but can be quite mean lately also. I just dont understand why she has began pecking at the little one. She does not challenge Ruby my Cochin as Ruby will stand up for herself but the little one is a bit scared of Betty and her mean ways

OK so Bette is a girl....some girls are mean.
A flock of 3 can be hard to balance the pecking order.

Did you get them as chicks?

Did they all grown up together?
How old are they, in weeks or months?

....and ......How about space?

Show us your coop and run...dimensions and pics.

Crowding can lead to bullying problems.

 

[Sandra Verbreyt]

OK so Bette is a girl....some girls are mean.
A flock of 3 can be hard to balance the pecking order.

Did they all grown up together?
How old are they, in weeks or months?

....and ......How about space?

Crowding can lead to bullying problems.

Betty and the other girls have a free run of the whole garden and their coop is at the back of the garden so they can return to it when they feel. At the moment my cochin Ruby is broody and Betty is late coming out today so I am suspecting she is also broody :/ . I have no photos of the coop but it is a coop for 6 and I have just 3 so quite a big coop and they are all very close when roosting at night. Betty is behaving a bit better these last couple of days so I think maybe she is just a moody madame. My peeps certainly keep me very busy

 

[Sandra Verbreyt]

I am still having a problem with Betty. She is at times quite nasty to the little one but not bothered about Ruby my Cochin. Betty pecks at the litle one and chases her around and the poor little thing gets quite scared. Betty is also broody at the moment but still laying an egg every now and then. Ruby is also broody but does not bother the other two chickens at all. Could Bettys nasty behaviour be due to her being broody? I put her into broody jail for a few hours and she WAS NOT HAPPY about that. I have now let ther out again and she is sometimes ok but sometimes still chasing the little one. Will this behaviour stop when her broodiness goes away or is there something else that I need to do. Its all driving me nuts. Help anybody

 

[aart]

I have no photos of the coop but it is a coop for 6

Guessing it's a prefab coop and may be tight quarters for even 3.
Pics of your setup would really help here.
Lack of space is the main reason for dissension in the flock,
even if they have a big yard to range, they still have to go home at night.

Yes, a 'pre-broody' bird can be quite cranky.
If you're going to put her in broody jail she needs to stay there for at least 48 hours.

 

[cmom]

I had a bird that would always beat up the others if she got the chance. I ended up taking her to an action with some excess males. Maybe a change in her environment helped. This was my broody jail. It has wire in the bottom. I have also used it for broody's to brood in.