Hens are starting to fight

[Lacey1988]

I have two hens one a Buff Orpington(Blondie) and the other one a Silver Laced Wyandotte(Lacey) they grew up together,I actually bought them together but since they start laying eggs Blondie has been picking on Lacey.She pecks her and runs her away from the food.... I need to Know if I Should I butt in are let them sort it out???

 

[hennyannie]

I dont really know of anything you could do but let them sort this out on their own. as long as nobody is getting hurt I think they will.

 

[allieloveschickens]

Sounds like she is just becoming more dominant, it is normal for there to be some pecking- if it gets too rough you can isolate the bully for a couple days and then when she returns she will be lower on the totem pole again. Just make sure that no blood is drawn, chickens can get pretty rough sometimes.

 

[Lacey1988]

Blondie grabs Lacey neck feathers....Then she'll chase her into their barrel

 

[allieloveschickens]

Sounds like she is being pretty mean, I would definitely suggest a few days isolation to mellow her out, and if she continues after that you may want to re-home her. I had to re-home two mean hens- they scalped one of my EE's down the the bone! Vicious things. You can also try putting a second feeder and second waterer in the coop/run so that Lacey has another place to eat that isn't competing with Blondie- if Blondie chases her away from the food too often Lacey will lose weight and become unhealthy making her even more a of a target. Good luck!

 

[Judy]

What is their feed? How much space do they have?

 

[Lacey1988]

Laying Mash and they have a pretty big pen