Broody hen / now aggression

[kathor]

Hi all -- I had a 1-yo wyandotte go broody last weekend so I put her in a raised wire cage for two days and that seems to have fixed the broodiness.

Now though I seem to have aggression and some blood on three of my four hens, who have all lived happily together for the past year. Do you think they are re-establishing pecking order after the wyandotte's two day absence? They seemed fine yesterday but this morning when I went to let them out, they have blood on their combs and beaks. They have a very large run for four birds, so that is not an issue. Do I just let them sort it out? My concern is we are going away in about a week and so they will be confined to coop + run for 10+ days -- worrying I will come home to a mess of bloody chickens and our chicken sitter will be freaked out!

Thanks for any advice.

 

[junebuggena]

Is the coop and run big enough for them to be confined to it for that long with them getting stressed from overcrowding?

 

[kathor]

Yes, the run is very large for four birds -- 20x10 or something, plus the space of the two-level coop. They have a ton of room and have been left in it before when we've traveled without issue. But this picking / aggression / blood-drawing issue is new...

 

[junebuggena]

Maybe try giving them another feeding station so they don't feel quite so territorial to the 'new comer.' It couldn't hurt to give them some distractions either. Hang a few old CDs for the to peck at, throw a pile of grass clippings in for them to dig around in... just a few ideas. Things should settle back down in a few days.