Dilemma

[Susihomemaker]

I let my chickens out in the evenings until they roost. I tie the dog up so he won't bother them. They have the entire vegetable garden right by the coop in the back yard to dig around in. Instead they go all the way to the front of the house onto my porch and dig up the geraniums and rose moss in the big pots. Dirt everywhere, dead plants, chicken poop on my porch and furniture.

Any suggestions how to deal with this? I let my small house dog out to chase them off but they came right back as soon as I put the dog back in.

Second problem: One large Americauna hen is MEAN. Jumps on the red hen, squashes her and pulls at her neck until she screams. The roosters are not mean just HER but when they see her doing it they jump on the hen and do it too. Poor hen luckily not bleeding. I see the Americauna hen being aggressive and pushy all the time. She is a really big hen.

I have 6 hens and 2 roosters, 2 Barred Plymouth Rocks and 3 New Hampshire Reds plus 2 Americauna roos and the one mean hen. They were baby chicks in mid March and are about 4.5 months old now. No eggs yet but hoping soon.

Any help is appreciated! Thank you!

 

[chickenbythesea]

sometimes mean hens are just that and you may need to get rid of her. Are you saying you have 6 hens total or 6 hens plus the others? If you only have 6 hens total and 2 roo's you need more hens or at most one roo. One roo alone with only six girls may harass them to the point of being completely stressed out.

 

[devora]

They dig up your flowers b/c you like flowers. I think birds stay up late plotting things like this.

Solution: fence? They will destroy your entire flower bed if they have their way!

Mean girl is setting the pecking order. It can look brutal. It can be brutal. But if no blood or serious damage it will settle down. And if it doesn't, chicken dinner.

Sounds like you do not have nearly enough hens. Or one too many roos.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Are you certain your mean hen is indeed a hen? That sounds like a rooster gang bang to me. One will mount then the others will follow suit.
Ditto about the flower beds. Keep them in a run for a few days. If, when you let them out, they go back to their shenanigans, put them back (sprinkling some feed on the ground in the run works for me). Repeat until they stay away from the flowers. This helped me alot, my flower beds are beautiful once again and my chickens have stopped pooping on my porch.

P.S- spraying them with the water hose makes them high tail it pretty fast too!

Good luck!