help!

albird101

Chirping
6 Years
Joined
Jun 2, 2013
Messages
288
Reaction score
15
Points
93
This is going to be pretty long, okay so nugget is the favorite from the flock, when the other hens had chicks they wouldn't mind if nugget was by then but they'll chase any other chicken away, so nugget now has a little bunch of chicks with her the hens were cool with it but all of a sudden they turned on her every chance they get 2 hens try to gang up on her and separate her from her chicks while the 3rd hen goes and trys to kill the chicks!! I would have thought the rooster would try to break them up but he doesn't our other little bantam too trys to break them up but the top roo chases him away and continues to let them fight, I constantly separate them and nugget loves to follow the rooster with her chicks all the time the roster ethier chases her off or the hens try and fight her again nugget is 2nd to top of the pecking order and now they all hate her including the rooster, I put nugget and her chicks with another free ranged flock it consist of 1 roo and 2 hens, nugget hates them so much and she starts fights with them all the time so that dident work out ethier I have her in her own corral with the pgmy goat babies. The goats don't bother her at all. Anyways I was wondering why all of a sudden all the chickens that once loved nugget are Now trying to kill her and her chicks? I never experienced this but then again I'm new to chickens so I hope you guys can help? Thanks, also when nugget decides to kick the chicks out once there 2-3 months old with the flock accept her again because right Now they hate her guts.
 
OK, Nugget was never a favorite. As the dominant hen the others even with chicks had to tolerate her presence. Her behavioral changes as a broody mother have 'changed' her in the minds of the other hens. They now sense an opportunity to take her down a peg or two. In this instance separating her from the flock was probably the proper thing to do in order to assure the safety of the chicks. When she weans the chicks and rejoins the flock, she will have to fight to regain her position. They don't 'hate her guts' (hate is a human emotion). It's just that chicken society is ever changing and frequently cruel - it's about survival of the fittest.
 
images


Welcome to BYC!

Sourland X2 I have a hen that gets picked on when ever she even thinks about going broody. When she starts in with the cluck cluck clucking, the gang up on her. Lower ranking hens can be abused by the other hens when they are vulnerable. So you need to separate her from the flock to protect her and her chicks. When she is done raising the chicks, you may have to introduce her as if she were a brand new bird from behind wire or a cage for a few weeks. Sorry you are having such trouble. Chickens can be brutal. Don't think poorly of your flock. This is just the ways of a flock. And some flocks are worse than others.

Good luck with your flock and make sure to protect her and her babies.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom