Hen attacking brooding hens

[Loyal Heights Poultry]

Hello,

We're experiencing a problem with a non-brooding hen attacking our brooding hens. Our Rhode Island Red is the one not brooding and the other two have taken up the preferred, previously shared nest. Our White Barred Plymouth Rock got up to take a walk in the run and the Rhode Island Red attacked her, jumping up and feet out. The other chicken responded the same way, so I had these chickens foot-jousting in the run. I ran out to break them up before someone got hurt. They stopped when I yelled at them and I stood over the run for several minutes and they stood side-by-side peacefully while I was playing referee. Then the Rhode Island Red took a little nip at the other's comb, but they seemed peaceful enough when I left.

Question: Is the chicken jousting a serious violent behavior or more posturing. I've had a hen-pecked death before and I couldn't bear to see it again.

Other Question: We are urgently designing a new coop to make room for our new chicks. We are planning on making "chicken apartments" basically a multi-layer design like a dresser so hens can choose from multiple roosting/nesting spots and we can get some separation. Would that work or would the chickens all fight over the "preferred" apartment or is it an unknown how they would respond to multiple roosting/nesting places? Would it be different if they were all at the same height, like a series of nightstands placed side-by-side?

All advice is appreciated.

 

[sourland]

Flock mates tend to regard broody hens as 'strangers' because of their changed demeanor. Are the broody hens setting on eggs ? If not I would not be concerned and would not intervene. If they are brooding eggs, I would want to isolate them from the rest of the flock to protect the eggs.

 

[Loyal Heights Poultry]

Good to know, thank you. I don't know if there are any eggs. They nested between the feeder and the waterer and don't have to get up and they are not easy to dislodge. We don't have a rooster so the eggs won't hatch, leading them to brood...I don't know how that story ends, frankly. We've owned chickens for several years and while we've had brooders, never seen this kind of animosity.

 

[rosemarythyme]

We are planning on making "chicken apartments" basically a multi-layer design like a dresser so hens can choose from multiple roosting/nesting spots and we can get some separation. Would that work or would the chickens all fight over the "preferred" apartment or is it an unknown how they would respond to multiple roosting/nesting places? Would it be different if they were all at the same height, like a series of nightstands placed side-by-side?

Vertical design generally doesn't work for chickens... if they all have access to the whole structure, they'll all likely choose to be on the top, so it doesn't solve anything.

Or are you intending on making mini flocks and having each group of chickens restricted to their part of the area? Even then you need to consider how you'd set this up so no one is pooping on anyone, how you're going to clean and maintain such a set up, etc.

 

[50-45-1]

If your eggs are infurtle and no chance of hatching, i highly recomend you break your broodies from setting.
Broodiness takes quite the toll on the health of your hen. She eats less, she drinks less, she does not get fresh air and sunshine, she gets no exersise. She also is more prone to mites and lice in her stationary state. She will not dust bath as regular. She will never hatch chicks and that is what triggers the breaking from broodiness.
A hen that goes into prolonged brooding may become severly underweight and even die.
If you are planning to find some fertle eggs for your hen you should set her up in a separate hutch so she is not constantly bothered by the others.
Good luck!

 

[Loyal Heights Poultry]

Vertical design generally doesn't work for chickens... if they all have access to the whole structure, they'll all likely choose to be on the top, so it doesn't solve anything.

Or are you intending on making mini flocks and having each group of chickens restricted to their part of the area? Even then you need to consider how you'd set this up so no one is pooping on anyone, how you're going to clean and maintain such a set up, etc.

Yes, verticality does not seem to work with these three hens. They refuse to go up to the enclosed coop and live in the run beneath the coop. We've had plenty of hens live "upstairs" but these haven't taken to it.

I don't want mini flocks, but the chickens seem to segregate themselves. The two Cochins we bought are high strung and the other birds pick on them and we find them cowering in a corner of the run trying to be as small as possible. So they got segregated. Now we've got 4 chicks ready to go outside but are not sure if they can blend with either the Cochins or the other girls. So we have an urgent need to build the new coop we were planning anyway, but uncertain how the chickens will decide to group themselves.

 

[Loyal Heights Poultry]

If your eggs are infurtle and no chance of hatching, i highly recomend you break your broodies from setting.
Broodiness takes quite the toll on the health of your hen. She eats less, she drinks less, she does not get fresh air and sunshine, she gets no exersise. She also is more prone to mites and lice in her stationary state. She will not dust bath as regular. She will never hatch chicks and that is what triggers the breaking from broodiness.
A hen that goes into prolonged brooding may become severly underweight and even die.
If you are planning to find some fertle eggs for your hen you should set her up in a separate hutch so she is not constantly bothered by the others.
Good luck!

How would we get them to stop brooding? By taking the eggs? Would it be that simple? Is there anything else we can do to help them stop brooding?

 

[50-45-1]

@aart has a great photo of a wire dog cage set up to expose broodys and snap them out of brooding.
Yes remove all eggs and fake eggs.
Get your hens out side and with no dark cubbhole to nest down.
Fresh air and sunlight for about 3 days does the trick.
Some hens are pretty determined about it and it may take longer.

 

[Loyal Heights Poultry]

@aart has a great photo of a wire dog cage set up to expose broodys and snap them out of brooding.
Yes remove all eggs and fake eggs.
Get your hens out side and with no dark cubbhole to nest down.
Fresh air and sunlight for about 3 days does the trick.
Some hens are pretty determined about it and it may take longer.

We happen to have a big dog crate! So, I would put litter, food, and water in it, dislodge the brooders to the dog crate, and then would I cover it up at night, like drape something over the top, then take it off again in the morning?

 

[aart]

Other Question: We are urgently designing a new coop to make room for our new chicks.

How many birds will you have total?
What does your coop look like now?
Pics can really help.
There are 3 good articles linked in my signature, they may help with your design.


If you don't want her to hatch out chicks, best to break her broodiness promptly.

My experience goes about like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest (or as soon as I know they are broody), I put her in a wire dog crate(24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop or run with feed and water.

I used to let them out a couple times a day, but now just once a day in the evening(you don't have to) and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two. Or take her out of crate daily very near roosting time(30-60 mins) if she goes to roost great, if she goes to nest put her back in crate.

Chunk of 2x4 for a 'roost' was added to crate floor after pic was taken.