Dominate chicken being bullied!!

[JanetS]

My chickens are 8 months old and have been raised together since they were a few days old. I have 2 white leghorns and 4 RSL.
The 2 leghorns have had a few disagreements in the past few months but nothing to worry about. We went out of town for a few days and the chickens were not able to free range. They had to stay in their run. Since we have been home the 2 leghorn have been fighting a lot. They are very aggressive with each other. I don't understand what is going on. Could one of them be sick? They are eating, drinking, taking dirt baths, laying eggs and running around like normal. Don't see anything wrong. If this keeps up we may have to re home one of them. It's getting that bad. Any suggestions why they are acting this way?? They have always been inseparable but the last few months not so much.

Thank You

 

[PrairieChickens]

I find your post puzzling since the title seems to have nothing to do with the actual problem, and the title on its own doesn't even make sense... If a chicken is being "bullied", then it isn't the dominant chicken, but I will address the question in your post before I digress further.

If they were younger I would say they are just sorting out the pecking order, but for chickens 8 months old it is kind of unusual for them to just suddenly start hating each other. How much space do they have when they aren't free ranging? Is the coop roomy, is there ample space in the run? Do they have plenty of feeders and waterers? Do they have any enrichment objects? In my own limited experience, most of the problems I have seen with chickens not getting along comes down to pure and simple boredom. If you take two people who don't like each other very much and put them in a huge yard with lots to do, they'll probably get along just fine. Stick them in a tiny empty room together and one of them will be hospitalized within the hour. Chickens are very much the same--when they are busy and entertained, you don't see more than the occasional scuffle for pecking order status, but when they are wanting for things to do, they will stir up all sorts of drama with each other.

 

[JanetS]

We always thought Athena was head chicken but she is now being bullied by the other leghorn (Tweety). Tweety is attacking Athena only!
I don't think they are bored. My teenage daughter lets then out for supervised free ranging 2 or 3 times a day. We have a big backyard. Their run is 6ft by12ft. We are thinking of expanding it.
I'm just confused as to why they suddenly hate each other. There has been no changes to the flock. Funny thing tonight they are side by side on the roost after fighting off and on all day.

Thanks so much for your reply.

My girls eating their favorite treat (grits)

 

[JanetS]

Update: My hen has gone broody! That's what has been going on. She has been sitting in the nesting box going on her second day now. Glad to know what it is. Now I'm reading about what to do about it. So much to learn about having chickens.

 

[PrairieChickens]

Ah, hormones... they'll do it every time.