Help! Not sure what to do

[Drema1991]

I have 4 hens 2 red sex links they are over a year old and 2 road island red that are a year. 3 of the hens have been laying on eggs but I had to remove them they were killing the babies! Since I removed the eggs I have one chicken that is fighting the others. I cant figure out which one. I've seen 1 of the chickens going after 2 of the other ones one time and didnt think nothing of it just broke it up and moved on although that was the first time I seen them even try to fight since then I'm finding fathers all over the place thought something got ahold of one of the chickens it was so bad. And this morning I left them out and 1 of the hens tailfathers are almost gone cause of fighting. I dont know what to do or what has caused this aggression the eggs have been removed 2 weeks ago

 

[Swbertrand1]

You're going to have to spend time out there with them and figure out which hen(s) is(are) doing what. At that point, you have a choice to make: a) remove the aggressors or b) remove those being attacked.

It usually works well to remove the aggressive bird(s) and isolate them in a secondary coop/run, in a shed, a garage, any place with cover that you can also add feed/water for them. Sometimes a day or two is all it takes to alter their behavior, but it can take as long as weeks.

Removing those that were being attacked or picked on does nothing to change the dynamic, however. If they were picked on before they were removed, they'll likely be picked on when reintroduced, so it's usually better to go with option "a".

In short, what you're trying to do is reset the pecking order by taking the dominant birds out of the equation for a period of time, then re-introducing them to the flock as "newcomers". Again, sometimes this works; sometimes it doesn't, and there is no guarantee that any amount of time away from the flock will change behavior.

We've given away beautiful laying hens that just wouldn't stop being aggressive. Still others on this forum will tell you to turn them into soup... Good luck!

 

[Drema1991]

I think I know who it is. Unfortunately when I'm out their they act right. I only caught the first fight cause I was coming out the back door and they were right their. Who it hurt if I separated the chicken I think it is to see if it settles things down

 

[Swbertrand1]

I think I know who it is. Unfortunately when I'm out their they act right. I only caught the first fight cause I was coming out the back door and they were right their. Who it hurt if I separated the chicken I think it is to see if it settles things down

I hear you on the first part of your reply, but I can't decipher that last sentence..... :-|

 

[Drema1991]

I'm sorry that's what I get for trying to text and talk to kids :-( what I was asking is... if I put the chicken I believe is the aggressor in the old coop for a few days and it turns out shes not the aggressor will it make things worse when she is let out...sorry this is my first time raising chickens so I'm learning their behavior as I go

 

[Swbertrand1]

Be SURE of the aggressor is your best bet. If one of the lower down chickens is put in "jail", they'll likely get the "new bird" treatment by all of them, including the aggressor, when they return to the flock.

Be sure what's going on before you start taking action......

 

[Drema1991]

Ok thank you