Hens Fighting

[Timmydrozz]

I have seven hens that live in my backyard chicken coop. Five are around 2 years old and two are about 6 months old. I kept the young ones separate until just recently, when my temporary coop was compromised and their sisters were murdered by a raccoon. For the past two weeks they've shared a coop with the older birds. In just the past few days, all of the chickens have started picking on the oldest bird. The young birds attack her the most, but the older birds that have all lived with her for over a year are participating too. I've read about chickens aggressively attacking when they see blood, but I haven't seen any blood from the attacks yet. I let them out in the yard most days and it's become very difficult to get the bullied bird to return to the coop at night. Is there anything I can do to keep her safe? She's particularly terrified of me and other humans. Do I have to build a quarantine in the coop? Any other ideas?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

How is she acting? Is she starting to molt? Odd acting birds can attract extra pecking which will make a bird fearful which makes it worse. Most years I get a few hens that feel unwell during the molt and they can get chased more.

I would leave them alone unless you do see blood or excessive aggression.

Make sure your birds are getting new daily protein, I recommend 18-22% in a ration. The more extra stuff you feed the higher the protein should be to prevent deficiencies that make them crave protein which can lead to aggressive behaviors.

Could be your older bird isn't feeling well. If you decide to separate her make sure she is always within sight, and she should be only separated by a fence. I have a few separation pens in my shed just for these instances.

 

[theuglychick]

Hi! Sorry for your girls trouble!

It's a little odd that they're picking on an established flock member.

Especially the younger ones. And especially if they're doing it outside of confinement.

Usually it's the other way around with older birds basically hazing the younger birds.

It could be that she was already the flock omega (lowest on the chicken totem/pecking order) so the higher ranking ones are used to pecking her and the younger ones are jockeying for a higher position and fighting with her as well, so they're all beating up on her because she's the lowest ranking one.

I've seen and heard of entire flocks turning on a member when they're sick, sometimes showing no signs to us, until later.

Space is usually a great neutralizer in aggression issues, whether with people, dogs, or chickens, but if they have ample space and are still pecking on one, you could try to dismantle the pecking order to see if that resolves the issue.

If you could pick out the trouble makers and isolate them for a week or so away from the main flock and see if order is restored. You could then try to reintroduce the trouble makes individually. Isolation from the main flock usually causes them to loose their place in the pecking order and they have to start from the bottom, knocking them down a few pegs.

If it continues, you could permanently remove the one being beaten and keep her with a milder tempered friend, or as a last resort, rehome her or the trouble makers.

Let us know what you decide and what works!

 

[Timmydrozz]

Thanks for these replies. I'll have to check the protein content of the feed when I get home from work. Her feathers look a bit disheveled, which perhaps is molting? There is another bird that also has the feathers that way, plus is the same breed and probably almost the same age. I say probably because only the victim is an original that I raised from scratch - the other four veterans I bought as almost grown birds. In terms of isolating the troublemakers, four out of the other six birds are picking on her, so I don't think I can isolate all four. Would it be better to isolate her with a nicer bird, instead of by herself? They would be in the same coop as the others, just with an added internal wire fence. I never thought of her as an Omega - she is the most anti-human of the bunch and showed some toughness surviving (another!) raccoon attack when she was young.

 

[patrickfoy1]

Thanks everybody... I am having the same problem. I had a girl who had a hard molt. She is almost done, but now she runs from the other hens and then suddenly will start to fight with them and when the door opens in the morning, she will not come out of the hen house. I was keeping her separated, but I think that is worst now then letting them work it out. I will try these solutions... thank you again Back yard Chicken Family..