Hen being very mean/agressive

[nikkimay]

Clementine, an Araucania and our oldest hen, has become very aggressive with Petunia, a two-year old barred rock.

Petunia has been getting so picked on, that some feathers have been pulled out and her comb has been bleeding.

We got come Blue-Kote about a week ago and covered Petunia's comb and that seemed to do the trick, but now Clementine is picking on her again. We've blue-koted her again, and just now when Petunia tried to roost for the night, Clementine jumped down, jumped on Petunia's back and started pecking her!

I think we're going to separate them for the night but we really need some advice for what to do. They've been living together for two years, and nothing about their coop or routine has changed... so I'm not sure where the change in behavior is coming from.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

 

[One Acre Wonder Farm]

Yikes! These are your only two girls, correct? Usually taking out the bossy lady and then reintroducing her would make her lower on the pecking order and put her in her place, so to speak, but for just the two of them I wonder if separating them will make it worse? When they get back together Clementine will be trying to be the top dog all over again...

Hopefully someone will come along who has successfully dealt with aggression in a small flock, and offer you some great tips!

 

[gallusdomesticus]

I recently had a similar problem. My Alpha hen, a five year old Buff Orphington, began attacking a middle of the pecking order Silver Laced Wyndotte with almost homicidal (or should I say gallicidal) fury. I put the aggressive hen in a 'time out' tractor for two days while the other girls free ranged around her and went back to their coop at night. When I let her out, I kept a close eye on her and when she looked like she was about to attack the Wyndotte, I put her back in the tractor for a day. It took almost a week, but she finally got the picture...she doesn't attack the Wyndotte any more. I've heard of other people using a squirt bottle to squirt the aggressive hen but it seem like that would require constant attention on your part.
Hope it works,

 

[nikkimay]

We have 3 hens, but the third seems to be staying out of the fights.

Last night we had petunia in a separate enclosure, but perhaps we'll try having Clementine go on time-out.

Thanks for the ideas - and keep them coming!

 

[caralouise1974]

Our buff orpington Henrietta started getting mean with our bluebelle Bella and it turned out she'd gone broody. We were very puzzled by it at first, but then she started sitting for longer periods on the nest and we realised why she'd been gradually getting more and more cross with Bella.

Any chance that could be what's happening with Clementine?

 

[nikkimay]

I don't think the grumpy chicken is broody - usually she just hides under our deck with her eggs when that is going on.

The only think I can guess is that she's grumpy about the heat.

For today we've got the grumpy chicken locked in the coop and run while the other two are free ranging.

But we're going to need a better solution soon, because we don't have more than one secure place to lock them up during the day.

 

[Brindlebtch]

Put clip on peepers from eggcartons.com on the grumpy hen and that will stop this behavior.

 

[nikkimay]

Quote:
Wow, never heard of such a thing... those look pretty severe. I think we'll try modifying the behavior first.

Thanks for the idea!

 

[nikkimay]

Update on the situation:

We are now entering the second day of keeping Clem, the grumpy hen, separate from the other girls. We tried having them together, and she was mean again this morning.

Last night she layed either a very soft shelled egg, or one with only a membrane.

I wonder if this could be related to her behavior? Maybe dealing with stress or some other health issue?