I have an aggressive Red. 5.5 months old and pecking my EE girls. All was great until a week ago when Red started laying. I'm on top of her food and rubbed Peck No More on EE girls. Hubby built a segregation coop for the aggressive Red. I'm putting her in it tomorrow night. Any suggestions? I've read a week alone in the segregation coop then back to the flock. Yes? No?
Just remember that hens get moody when they first start laying, they tend to calm down after a bit of time, think of her as a moody teenage girl.
I have heard this. LOL! I have moody teenage girls...now my HENS?!? Bwahahahaha! Thank you. This helps. I am going to take out the EE hens to heal then reintroduce after a week vs. the Red out. It now seems all the hens are picking at the EE's and I think it's because they've lost feathers and the one EE has a bit of blood being drawn. Time to take them to chicken ER here on my property. My hope is after they've grown back their feathers they'll be received normally (as they've always been). Sigh.
Chickens need and they have got to have animal protein so badly that they will attack and cannibalize any flock mate who is "leaking protein" (ie. blood) You should treat the bleeding EE with Blue Kote or a similar product to cover-up or disguise the color of blood. If you fail to act you will loose this hen. To test my theory, paint your toenails red and then wear open sandals into the run and observe how your hens are drawn to your feet and actually try to eat (or at least 'taste') your toes.
Make sure you work on your crowding issue before introducing the segregated hen back into your undersized coop. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1034346/help-my-rhode-island-red-hen-is-aggressive
