>Hen Attacked Younger Pullets, What's Next?<

[LittleRedCoop]

Good evening,

I have 6 hens that recently turned a year old in April, an assortment of Golden Comets and Leghorns. I introduced them to the pullets I have, who are just over two months old. The leghorns and the pullets met a couple days ago. The grow-out brooder has been next to the coop and run for a month now, wire-to-wire, so the two flocks have been able to converse with each other. Today, I put the hens in with the pullets, and all was fine, until I added the last hen. She (a golden comet) went right for the chicks, got a couple of beakfulls of feathers outta them. The others paid them no mind, and almost seemed to enjoy the extra company. But this one hen wouldn't let up, so I of course intervened and put her away.
I have noticed minor aggression towards me from this hen a couple of times, but nothing I've ever worried about. Now, though, I am concerned for the safety of my younger chicks, since they aren't big enough to truly defend themselves.
The pullets need to move in with the hens ASAP since I have some younger birds ready to go into the grow-out pen. I'd like to know what my options are. Getting rid of the bully hen is not my first choice but is certainly not off the table. The safety and peace among my birds is my No.1 priority and if one hen is disrupting that then she may have to be evicted.

Advice?

 

[teach1rusl]

If you have a dog crate handy, you could try isolating the meanie for a few days away from the others. Sometimes this helps give the bully a new attitude when reintroduced. Ample space and lots of barriers (roosts, stumps, branches, or even boxes and such) can help too by giving the younger birds places to run/hide. Make sure there is more than one feeder/waterer - set well apart in the run. When I had a bully hen, I'd sit in the run with a squirt bottle, and every time she'd head toward the younger birds, I'd blast her...lol. I liked it because she really didn't know where it was coming from, so I hoped maybe she thought THEY were doing it...lol. If nothing else works though, you won't have any choice but to rehome or process her.

 

[Chicks on DL]

I have a golden comet that reacted the same way to our newcomer a sweet little Buff Orphington. We kept the BO in a pen separate from the others and they all free range together. Because the golden comet was aggressive we separated her and that made her pretty agitated and were only able to stuck to our guns for a week or so. When we let her go back onto the the coop she was still aggressive but did let the BO in at night, which was an improvement, but we didn't get up early enough and the BO had some comb and earlobe damage in the morning. Ever since we had to make sure that we get up early enough to open the coop before they are up in the morning. Slowly it has gotten better and the golden comet doesn't attack her so much. Some nights they are all cuddled together and the other day they were laying eggs together. The golden comet and BO both started laying when the moon was really close the earth a week ago Saturday and they get along even better now. The moral of my long story is be patient, it's going to take time. If they can't free range together you may have to spend some time doing supervised visits. The squirt gun doesn't sound like a bad idea. Anytime I tried to physically intervene it made things worse.

Oh and the dog crate sounds like a good idea until the big girls decide to let them in the coop.

 

[LittleRedCoop]

Thank you all for your kind words of encouragement. I will have to think long and hard about the best solution.

 

[Gofygure]

My Golden Comets have been very bad about integrating...Two weeks in the coop together and they still attack the younger birds. I'm actually giving away the Silkies, because they just can't get away from the hens in time and one was fatally injured today.

It's really frustrating and sad. I can only hope that things will improve as the babies get bigger.

 

[LittleRedCoop]

Gofygure, I'm sorry to hear about your struggles. It sounds like golden comets aren't the best birds. They are excellent layers but seem to be a bit...socially challenged.

 

[Gofygure]

Yeah, I love those ladies but I don't think I'll be getting any more of them. I'd much rather have a good-tempered, moderate egg-layer than an aggressive egg-laying machine. If I'm lucky they'll get knocked down a couple of pegs as the younger birds outgrow them. If I'm not, I may end up getting rid of the two worst ones.

I hope things go easier for you.

 

[LittleRedCoop]

​

I'd much rather have a good-tempered, moderate egg-layer than an aggressive egg-laying machine.

Couldn't agree more! I may end up rehoming her if she doesn't get her act together.

 

[moetrout]

I had a similar issue last year integrating some new bird to my flock. I got rid of the hen that was at the top of the pecking order and it solved my problem.

 

[Chicks on DL]

My two Barred Rocks make a lot of noise when they can't see the Golden Comet. She has always gotten along great with the two she grew up with. She was very slow accepting the Buff Orphington but she is lots better now and everyone gets along great. My Golden Comet lays dark brown eggs which I love. My Golden Comet now is better with the BO than one of my BRs. So it just depends on the temperament of the chicken. Integrating can be tricky. It does help if they are the same size. I don't have any experience integrating small breeds with large breeds. Can you build a seperate coop for the silkies?