Chicken with PTSD

[Chickassan]

You might be on to something, my dominique Hobo is a lone survivor and she's absolutely savage fortunately there is enough space so she can't run anyone into the coop. You may end up having to give her a space of her own just to keep poor Marsha intact. The faverolles here don't suffer Hobo's temper as they puff up and stomp if upset.

 

[bobbi-j]

Sometimes you have to think of the peace of the flock, instead of working around one bird. What kind of life would it be for your bully bird to be living on a leash? Chickens love and live to scratch, peck, find bugs, and do other chickeny things. If this aggressive bird were mine, I would probably put her in the freezer. What kind of stress is she causing the rest of her flock with her attitude? Think about how much more peaceful it would be for them if she weren't stirring things up.

 

[R1V3R20NG]

im not one of those oh dont kill the animal people, but in this scenario i would not recommend putting her down right away. try separation at first. separation changes the pecking order and allows for another chicken to rise up and take that role, hopefully less dominant. maybe for a month or so then try again. worst case senario have a separate pen for her for the remainder of her days or put her down.

Marshmallow has been in hiding for 2 days now, rarely coming out to eat and drink, and no she is not broody. This morning i witnessed something really sad; she dropped down three places in the pecking order (mainly because during the fights the rooster wouldn't stop trying to mate with her) and now she is in charge of only 1 chicken. I did separation yesterday but not today since i couldn't grab ember fast enough to put her in the pen.

 

[R1V3R20NG]

Sometimes you have to think of the peace of the flock, instead of working around one bird. What kind of life would it be for your bully bird to be living on a leash? Chickens love and live to scratch, peck, find bugs, and do other chickeny things. If this aggressive bird were mine, I would probably put her in the freezer. What kind of stress is she causing the rest of her flock with her attitude? Think about how much more peaceful it would be for them if she weren't stirring things up.

Being on a leash would be better than our little quarentine area though, and we have never intentionally killed a chicken before. We do not know how old she is (We think she is at least 3) so I'm not sure she'd taste that great.
She is only causing trouble with four birds, Marshmallow, Breeze, Whitney Henston, and Caramel. She has attempted to 'fake mate' with Marsha, Breeze, and Whitney and ripped out part of Caramel's beard, though she did peck Red in the butt once because she pushed Ember away from the food she (Red) was eating. Red is in charge of Ember though

 

[Erica2397]

My family raise pheasants years ago and to prevent violence and even killing of other pheasants we equipped them with blinders so they couldn't see directly in front of them to attack anyone. Is there such a thing for chickens being brutal?

 

[bobbi-j]

What I was trying to gently say was, she might be better off if you cull her. And by “cull” I mean remove from the flock. That doesn’t always mean kill, but in all honesty, that would likely be her fate here. You could try to find someone with a flock she’d fit in with better, but I think she’s going to be unhappy no matter where she goes. Isolation, whether she’s penned in a small area or tied out so she can’t mingle with the flock is also a lonely existence for a chicken. They are a flock animal and are less stressed when with other chickens.

 

[Frazzemrat1]

I hate to say it, but I'd either isolate her indefinitely, for the benefit of the rest of the flock, that is if a temporary isolation doesn't work... or I'd put her in the freezer. And her taste would be fine, but she'd be tough. You'd have to crock pot her for a while.

 

[Redhead Rae]

You may not like what I am about to say.








I have found Black Sex Links to be rather vile to docile birds.






I would be rid of her.

I think the temperament of a sex link has a LOT to do with the parent breeds. The commercially available ones are bred to pump out eggs, not for docility. I have home grown sexlinks Black Cochin over Dominique/Dom crosses and New Hampshire over Dominique/Dom crosses. They are no where NEAR as bossy as my Delawares or my Leghorn crosses. They are quiet laid back.

 

[Redhead Rae]

I think the temperament of a sex link has a LOT to do with the parent breeds. The commercially available ones are bred to pump out eggs, not for docility. I have home grown sexlinks Black Cochin over Dominique/Dom crosses and New Hampshire over Dominique/Dom crosses. They are no where NEAR as bossy as my Delawares or my Leghorn crosses. They are quiet laid back.

With that being said, I would probably try isolating and reintroducing her. If that didn't work, I would get rid of her or put her down.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I think the temperament of a sex link has a LOT to do with the parent breeds. The commercially available ones are bred to pump out eggs, not for docility. I have home grown sexlinks Black Cochin over Dominique/Dom crosses and New Hampshire over Dominique/Dom crosses. They are no where NEAR as bossy as my Delawares or my Leghorn crosses. They are quiet laid back.

Very true about parent breeds being important.

The BSL I have had were all hatchery stock. For my flock they have all been mean trouble makers.