Flock of 2 with issues

[Muts & co]

We have two black Leghorn bantams and they fight. The dominant hen basically kicked the other hen out of the house. This started when both were broody and both wanted to sit in the same nest. We had to separate them. One is still in the chicken coop and run. The other is sleeping in the duck house (the ducks do not sleep there in summer, they stay in the run) and during the day she is in the duck run when the ducks are free ranging. The hens timeshare the garden. A lot of organisation for a flock of two chickens and four ducks. When one hen is free ranging she sits next to the other hen which is in the run. When i let them both free the dominant hen starts a fight straightaway. They are no longer broody but cannot live with or without eachother. They are 1 year old and have been hatched together.
Sorry for the long intro, does anyone have ideas on how to solve this problem? We would like to keep our flock small. Thanks

 

[chuckachucka]

Does the other hen fight back when the dominant one attacks? And What do you do when they fight? By this I mean do you separate them straightaway or let them fight for a bit? I ask because I have found that chickens need to settle their own dominance disputes and this means letting them fight it out until one surrenders. Obviously you don't want anyone to get seriously hurt so sometime sit is necessary to step in before blood is spilled.

Unfortunately as you have only two you can't try what is usually recommended of removing the overly dominant hen for a few days to reshuffle the pecking order. Keeping them apart most of the time will no help them eventually get along either.

I had a couple of hens who just didn't get on because one was always bullying the other. The only thing I could do was rehome the bullied one.

 

[Muts & co]

Thank you for your reply. When they were broody they both fought and starting to damage each other (pulling feathers, breaking skin). This went on for a week until it got more vicious. We thought separating until the broody hormones subsided would help. Now it is very clear bullying. The moment the dominant hen sees the other one she attacks. The subservient one squats in submission, the dominant jumps on top and starts to peck her on the head quite hard. Then the other one runs toward her run where the dominant hen follows and continues to beat her up. That is when I step in. Should I let them get on with it and fight it out?

 

[HenniesInMyHeart]

Thank you for your reply. When they were broody they both fought and starting to damage each other (pulling feathers, breaking skin). This went on for a week until it got more vicious. We thought separating until the broody hormones subsided would help. Now it is very clear bullying. The moment the dominant hen sees the other one she attacks. The subservient one squats in submission, the dominant jumps on top and starts to peck her on the head quite hard. Then the other one runs toward her run where the dominant hen follows and continues to beat her up. That is when I step in. Should I let them get on with it and fight it out?

No, this doesn't sound like a typical squabble that you can let them work out. From the sound of things, the sub hen can't submit more than she already is, and your dominant hen could kill the submissive one. Once they are pinning down and pecking hard and not letting the submissive one get away (following when they run away and not letting up), it gets scary. Honestly, I would get more chickens and consider rehoming the bully, or isolating her and letting the sub hen bond with new one/s. In my opinion, 3 seems to be a good minimum number for hens. Did either one have any chicks?

 

[Muts & co]

I was afraid it would come to that. I will let you know what we will do. They are very pretty. I always joked that the dominant one had mental health problems. You never knew how she would react: friendly, paranoid, outright panicky, greedy, shy, feared. Maybe i was not too far off the mark.
No they did not have chicks. Thanks for your help.