Behaviour of flock after death of alpha hen

[chris503632]

Hi guys.

We had a very sad event last Saturday - our beloved alpha hen, Specks, died of heart failure. We loved her so much and she will be missed.

Her two pals have been ok until today, but we have seen some unusual behaviour. The smaller of the two, Clara, has been keeping her distance from the larger one, Connie - hiding away with her head to the wall. Clara was reluctant to go in the coop after dark, but went in eventually with a bit of encouragement.

This is like the behaviour when they were first introduced. I'm assuming that this is something to do with establishing a new pecking order - does this sound likely?

She seems OK otherwise - her comb is a really good colour, no other symptoms so I don't think she is ill.

Any advice would be very gratefully received.

Cheers,

Chris

 

[sourland]

Odds are that Connie is now picking on Clara declaring her dominance.

 

[KayTee]

I am sorry for your loss - it is never easy to lose a pet, (even if it is "just a chicken" as so many of my friends have said! If only they could understand how a chicken is as much a pet as a cat or a dog.)

I agree with sourland - whenever there is movement within a flock - adding or removing chickens - there is often a period where a new pecking order has to be established. Even if you only have two chickens, one has to prove her dominance over the other.

I recently introduced two point of lay chickens to an established flock of 5 girls (aged 1 year- 2,5 years), who had learned to get along no problem. Even though the 2 new girls were younger, and therefore logically at the bottom of the pecking order, it didn't make any difference. Everyone had a go at everyone else for a few weeks, just to make certain that they were in their rightful place!

I wouldn't worry too much, unless it comes to drawing blood, in which case you may need to separate them for a while, but I very much doubt it will come to that. It is always an upheaval for a flock to lose a member, and I am sure that it will settle down in time.