Bully hen

[holly777]

I have 7 females and there is this one girl that goes in and runs the other hens out of there nest and won't even lay eggs in the nests? Why is this?

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

She is probably the flock leader over the hens. Don't let her bully the others out of the nest boxes. You may need to separate her out for a few weeks or use pinless peepers on her so she can't bully the others around. Never let one bird be a bully.

Good luck with your flock and welcome to ours!

 

[hennible]

Depends on how big of a bird you want... I think

 

[hennible]

Maybe she's just trying to be the dominant hen or acting as a rooster if you don't have one... You could remove her for a little while and reintroduce her and see if it changes the order...

 

[holly777]

I have a rooster and she is finally trying to lay but he had to fix her nest and also he is standing guard over her as we speak. I have never seen a rooster do that before!!!!

 

[holly777]

I also have one more question is it normal for a rooster to stand watch over the female while laying. That is the only way she settled down to lay with him standing right beside her.

 

[hennible]

I've never seen it .... sounds like he really likes her.
I have seen hens "bow" or squat for the rooster to get some attention.

 

[holly777]

He stood by her side until she layed the egg then both of them left the nesting area. I have never saw but whatever makes her feel safe.

 

[hennible]

Now that's kind of neat, they really paired up...
I bet that's why she so hard on the other hands she wants the rooster to just pay attention to her... It's bird jealousy

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! Not sure if you have seen it, but there is a nice article on Bully behavior in the Learning Center https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/bullying-behavior-in-chickens
Some roosters really have favorite hens that they will hang around with pretty much all of the time, some roos really do the checking out nest box thing where they try to convince the girls that they have found the prefect box.