Hen pecking

[GabrielleC]

I recently removed a broody hen to broody jail for a week and now since I have put her back my 2 blue Plymouth rocks are picking on her. It has been a week now and they are still being aggressive. Should I put them in jail for a few days? I keep scolding them and we have had the hen pecking conversation to no avail. Any ideas? There is no room in the coop to reasonably separate them.

 

[Ridgerunner]

When and where does the pecking take place? Any specific time of day or location? What does it look like? Is it a vicious trying to kill her attack or a causal peck then they stop? How many total chickens do you have and how big is your coop and your run. Pecking is often a symptom of crowding. I'm trying to figure out what you are working with. If you have a photo of the coop and run it might give us some ideas.

Next time, try putting your broody buster where they can see each other during that process. And try releasing the broody after 72 hours in there. It doesn't always work by 72 hours is usually enough for mine.

It may be serious, it may just be a reordering of the pecking order, similar to isolating them from the flock for a while.

 

[thecatumbrella]

Hi Gabrielle. I had a similar thing happen. Put a chicken in broody jail for 3 days, directly with the flock. The day I went to reintegrate her, another chicken just decided that broody wasn't allowed back in. I was never able to fix it.

In hindsight, I would have completely isolated the aggressor. They shouldn't be allowed to see the flock at all. I'd start with 2-3 days, then attempt to reintroduce them. Add more isolation time, as needed. They need to completely forget about their "grudge" and start over. This doesn't happen if they're staring at each other through a barrier.

Best of luck. I know how frustrating it is.

 

[GabrielleC]

When and where does the pecking take place? Any specific time of day or location? What does it look like? Is it a vicious trying to kill her attack or a causal peck then they stop? How many total chickens do you have and how big is your coop and your run. Pecking is often a symptom of crowding. I'm trying to figure out what you are working with. If you have a photo of the coop and run it might give us some ideas.

Next time, try putting your broody buster where they can see each other during that process. And try releasing the broody after 72 hours in there. It doesn't always work by 72 hours is usually enough for mine.

It may be serious, it may just be a reordering of the pecking order, similar to isolating them from the flock for a while.

Our coop is 6’x7’ for 5 hens. Plus a run that is 12x12’ that they have access to daily. One Plymouth in particular will chase her. She has cornered her in the past and pecked at her. So far no blood.
On the roost our girl isolates herself at the far end and outside in the run she will sit up on the roosting tree if the aggressive hen is out there.
We have decided to build a cage under the roosting tray that is 2x5’ with access to their water system for future issues plus this spring when we add 2-3 more to our flock.