Hen turned into a real BLEEP when she started laying

[Chicken Slave]

I have a hen, she was supposed to be a green egger. Wellsummer/Aracana cross. She lays blue eggs, who cares right, and is a sizeable hen. She started laying about 10 days ago and since then has become a complete hag to put it nicely. She is tearing up four of my other hens and I caught her literally digging a hole in the back of one of them last night. She pretty much just walks around stalking the others. Picking at their backs and legs as they walk away from her. I confined her but wonder why she would become such a _____ after she started laying. Three of the other hens are laying, one is a Black Australorp, two BLRW, and the other is the sister of the now mean one. The sister is the one she had trapped behind a straw bale and was repeatedly pecking at one spot on her back that was raw and bloody. Now the hen that was being attack by her has had a rough life here. First attacked by a HUGE red tail hawk and got away, then managed somehow to escape the pen and attacked 3 times by our malamute before getting to shelter. She's looking at bit rough but a tough girl for sure! So, back to the topic, why would the one start acting like that when she started laying?

 

[NovaAman]

That I can not tell you. You need to isolate the injured until nearly healed, then put a nicer hen in with her for a week, the return them together to the flock. As for La perra, put her in a time out away from everyone for a few days, alone, so she's on the bottom of the pecking order when she's returned.

Again, do not put the injured hen back until she is healed. If she is bald in that spot, put a saddle on her till the feathers grow back. If the attacker is pulling feathers, you may need to up the protein.. If the aggression continues, she may need to be rehomed, put with different birds who are tougher, or culled.

 

[Chicken Slave]

Thanks! She is confined in a wire dog kennel right now as I wasn't gonna have that behavior. All the other hens get along. Even the 2 year old Welsummers I have don't act like that towards the ones under a year. She has outgrown all the other hens she is picking on now. Just in the last couple of weeks. She may very well end up on Craigslist where she came from.

 

[Adorkable]

I haven't the slightest idea other then she wants to go to freezer camp. After they start laying though is when you can usually tell what kind of personalities they will have. Well at least from my experience.

I had to get rid of one of mine after she started laying because she would pull the other pullets/hens out of the nestboxes by their wings and combs. I got tired of seeing my girls with blood dripping down their faces and beaks and decided she would be best made into a white chili.

Good luck with her if you plan on keeping her

 

[NovaAman]

Oh, love white chili!

 

[aoxa]

I'd say cull her. That behaviour is unacceptable, and I've never encountered it, but if I did, she would make a great roast.

 

[MySuburbanLife]

My black silkie did the same thing! She started acting like a tyrant about a week before her first egg, and it continued getting worse for two weeks. I put her in time out (brooder pen in my garage) for a week, then reintroduced her... no change in behavior. Then I ordered some pinless peepers and popped those on her-- took them off after a week and she was back to (nearly) normal.

If she's just too bratty to deal with and culling is an option, go for it. If you want a few things to try first, peepers worked for my little brat.

Good luck!

 

[jean villarreal]

What are peepers?

 

[AuntB]

Before you go so far as to cull her, what are the living conditions like? Is she getting adequate nutrition? there are several factors that may cause cannibalism. Look at this site for a few, and do some research about aggressive chickens. http://www.organicvet.co.uk/Poultryweb/disease/feath/feath1.htm

 

[Chicken Slave]

As of this time I have had her in solitary since my first post. Thanks to all for your replies and ideas. I am going to look at the link in the post above this one shortly. Getting tired of cleaning the dog kennel she is in so was thinking of trying her back w/ the rest.

Food was readily available for all the hens, water, they live in the Hen Hilton of coops/pens so no problems there. She was picking on the smaller hens that weren't laying at the time because they had mites and worms. Now all are laying and growing bigger so maybe she won't think she's quite so cool anymore.

Not really into the cleaning of a bird being a city boy.lol Probably sell her if I can't deal. Six and seven XXL blue eggs a week is hard to give up!