Do chickens get jealous?

[DragonBearMomma]

The flock: *all hatched 4/11/21*
2 Welsumers (Wella & Ella)
2 Amberlinks (Amber & Link)
1 Delaware (Della)
1 White Crested Black Polish (MR. Peabody)

The issue:
Amber started laying a week ago. She's already very proficient. Since then, Mr. Peabody has been adoringly attentive to her, when prior to her new 'hen status', he wouldn't give her the time of day. Up until a week ago, he only forced his company on Wella & Ella.

Out of the blue, Wella has started pecking, pulling feathers & chasing off all the rest of her flock mates during evening snack, except Emma and Mr. Peabody (who, I might add, she usually does her dead-level best to avoid). Even Della, who up until now I would have SWORN was the flock leader (definitely a better leader/protector than Mr. Peabody), has suddenly become a target. Even if I put out 2 pans of their evening scratch, she'll run back and forth between the two to keep Amber, Link & Della from getting any. Also, Emma is mimicking everything Wella does in this regard, though not as aggressively.

They don't act like this in the coop, run, or while getting in their afternoon foraging. Only during snack time before bed. Always before, they'd remind me of puppies around the food pan...circling and eating....but always sharing and getting along.

Three questions:
1) Do flock dynamics change suddenly after 20 weeks?

2) Is Wella jealous of Amber's new 'hen' status, and by association of feather color, Link & Della as well?

3) Should I do anything about it?

I'm just so sad, because Wella started out as one of my most low-key girls, doing her own thing.

 

[DobieLover]

Amber is not a hen. She's still a pullet. She just started laying. She won't be a hen until she's 1 year old. Neither will the rest. Except for Mr Peabody. Then he will be a rooster.
The rest are coming into point of lay. So hormones are surging. What I would do to solve this issue? Stop giving them scratch. Period.
They don't need it, and they certainly don't need a pan of it. All that is going on is resource guarding.
If you feel you simply must give them some scratch, for that many birds all I would do is toss out one handful. And I would throw it so they have to scratch for it.
I have a flock of 28 birds. They get three small handfuls of bird seed and one small handful of dried mealworms per day. And are hand feed about 2 tablespoons of raisins each morning. And that's it.

 

[CalBickieMomma]

Yup. Sounds like typical, sorting out pecking order, hormones raging kinda stuff. But I am convinced chickens do get jealous (especially when it comes to sharing
lap space on mama chicken ).

 

[MysteryChicken]

Jealousy is a thing. I was checking out a hatch mate of a project bird, & the other hatch mate flew up onto my back, & bit my ear. She wanted the attention.

 

[DragonBearMomma]

Amber is not a hen. She's still a pullet. She just started laying. She won't be a hen until she's 1 year old. Neither will the rest. Except for Mr Peabody. Then he will be a rooster.
The rest are coming into point of lay. So hormones are surging. What I would do to solve this issue? Stop giving them scratch. Period.
They don't need it, and they certainly don't need a pan of it. All that is going on is resource guarding.
If you feel you simply must give them some scratch, for that many birds all I would do is toss out one handful. And I would throw it so they have to scratch for it.
I have a flock of 28 birds. They get three small handfuls of bird seed and one small handful of dried mealworms per day. And are hand feed about 2 tablespoons of raisins each morning. And that's it.

I've read and heard differing opinions on when a pullet is deemed a 'hen', and most have concluded that if they're laying, they're a hen. Hence the term 'laying hen'.

The scratch I give them is an Organic, 6-grain blend, and they get 1/4 cup between the 6 of them. I serve it in a pan the size of 12" skillet. This is to reduce waste & rodents. We have a field behind us teeming with field mice, but only 2 cats. If I can keep from attracting them by serving my chickens a small treat in a pan once a day before they go to bed, then that's what I'll do.

I am only looking for BEHAVIOR advice. I've done my research on unhealthy treat offerings & quantities, but thank you for your concern.

 

[DragonBearMomma]

Yup. Sounds like typical, sorting out pecking order, hormones raging kinda stuff. But I am convinced chickens do get jealous (especially when it comes to sharing
lap space on mama chicken ).

Della is my only friend in this flock. Amber and Link will tolerate me when they're sleepy, but Wella & Emma are as hands-off as can be. Mr. Peabody has been a nervous wreck since we got him as a 5-day old, I'm assuming because he was the last of his kind in a tank full of Amberlinks, and had been subjected to the torture of many hands over a 2-day period. I try to be patient with him.

 

[DragonBearMomma]

Jealousy is a thing. I was checking out a hatch mate of a project bird, & the other hatch mate flew up onto my back, & bit my ear. She wanted the attention.

Yeah, all my 'kids' are nosey, but not necessarily battling for my attention.