sophiehatter1057
Songster
I've raised my little flock of 9 hens (4 EE and 5 Australorps) together from day 1 for all of them. Aside from a completely reformed problem child (a feather picker whose 2 rounds of pinless peepers have cured her) the flock has been very peaceable. (They are now around 4 months old, and nobody has laid eggs yet).
Suddenly, though, there's one who is very clearly at the bottom, who often gets chased--and even more often, the chasing is by a specific dominant hen. Both are EEs. The dominant EE has done the same to some of the other hens on occasion, but really targets the shy/quiet one a lot--noticeably more.
There's plenty of food (giant free feeding feeder that's always full), no signs of illness, the coop is 10ftx10ft with a run that's 40ftx40ft. Everything is clean, tons to forage (which they seem to prefer over anything else).
The picked-on hen still seems able to eat, and she isn't being blocked from the coop (and thankfully, no feather picking so far, nor any other injury).
If it matters, we're in upstate SC where the weather has cooled slightly, but is still plenty warm.
Is this hormonal and temporary (pre-laying behaviour)? Or is it more concerning and in need of addressing?
Suddenly, though, there's one who is very clearly at the bottom, who often gets chased--and even more often, the chasing is by a specific dominant hen. Both are EEs. The dominant EE has done the same to some of the other hens on occasion, but really targets the shy/quiet one a lot--noticeably more.
There's plenty of food (giant free feeding feeder that's always full), no signs of illness, the coop is 10ftx10ft with a run that's 40ftx40ft. Everything is clean, tons to forage (which they seem to prefer over anything else).
The picked-on hen still seems able to eat, and she isn't being blocked from the coop (and thankfully, no feather picking so far, nor any other injury).
If it matters, we're in upstate SC where the weather has cooled slightly, but is still plenty warm.
Is this hormonal and temporary (pre-laying behaviour)? Or is it more concerning and in need of addressing?
