Hens fighting

[Blinus]

Hi everyone

I've checked this forum a lot since i have chickens but now i finally made an account because i could really use some advice. I'm sorry if my English is not very good, but it's not my native language.

Here is my question, please stay with me.

I have 6 chickens: 2 bantam Wyandottes, 2 bantam Silkies and 2 bantam Cochin. No rooster, can't have one where i live. I have them a couple of months and they all seem to be happy.
The Wyandottes (their names are: Wyan and Dot) are the 2 most dominant chickens of the flock, they're also the 2 largest. Dot is at the top followed by Wyan. There have not yet been any problems. At least not until last week.

I came home from work and normally the Wyandottes come flying to the fence greating me (or expecting food). This time they didn't so i was worried. When i got into the run i saw Dot's face covered in blood but no visible wounds. When i saw Wyan on the other hand... She had feathers pulled of the top of her head, big wounds around her beak and eyes. And she was dripping blood everywhere. I immediately seperated them from each other and the rest of the flock. I didn't think Wyan wasn't going to make it through the night. But besides the bald spot on her head, she made a full recovery.

Now here's the part that is way above my head when it comes to understanding chickens

I put Wyan in a dog crate in the run a couple of days ago. And when Dot came to check things out, she came up to Wyan and they both put their heads down and their tails up, ready for a fight it seems. So i kept Wyan in her 'cage'. Then i saw Dot doing some sort of dance. Stomping her feet en stretching one wing. Like roosters do when they try to court a hen (saw this on YouTube). And then yesterday i couldn't believe it but i am 100 percent sure that Wyan said cock-a-doodle-doo. I know they are both hens, they both laid eggs in the past and they are around one year old. Dot has been broody twice for about a week and Wyan once. Wyan was broody when they fought so I thought that was the reason. But now they are not broody anymore. They're not laying at the moment.

What's happening here? Are they becoming roosters? Do they think they are roosters? Something else? And what can I possibly do? I want the best for all of them but culling or relocating is not an option, but keeping one alone all the time isn't either. I really don't know what to do.

Can someone please give me some advice on this?

 

[centrarchid]

Before going any farther with this, post a picture of the combatants that is recent.

 

[dfalco]

Who knew chickens could be so complicated! Forgive me, but I feel I need to ask for pictures. It does sound as though they are both roosters. I have read somewhere that in the absence of a rooster, a hen might become dominant and even exhibit behaviors of a rooster. But it sounds as though both Wyandottes are behaving as roosters. Watching this thread for sure!

 

[Blinus]

Here are some pictures. The one with one of them enclosed is only a couple of days old. The battered up one is couple of days after the fight. And the other ones are about one month old. Trust me, they are hens. Of this i am sure. I literally saw an egg fall out of Wyan.

 

[centrarchid]

Concern I had shut down as both appear to be proper hens.


Separating hens after conflict was not productive. Odds are pecking order was resolved during fight. Penning them separately makes so they can recover in isolation to forget outcome. Battle much more likely to resume upon release. I would let them fight it out under supervision and make certain no real damage results.

 

[Blinus]

Thanks for the replies so far.

@ centrarchid: that could indeed be the case, and it's something worth trying. But i believe that if this was the case they would already have stopped going at each other. And it doesn't explain why both of them act like roosters.

@dfalco: i've read that too. A dominant hen courting another hen and trying to mount it, is showing her dominance towards the other. But the other one is crowing like a rooster. It's very strange indeed.

 

[centrarchid]

Anyone taking hormones?

 

[dfalco]

[quietly concerned that you have some very...um...unusual chickens]

 

[Blinus]

That's the least we can say.

Perhaps someone else can shed some light on this subject?