Hens fighting

[howie1963]

My flock of hens have always gotten along great and have been great layers. They are now 3 years old. About 3 weeks ago one of my hens got broody. It has happened in the past, but has usually only lasted a few days and then they have gotten over it on their own. This last time the hen stayed broody for two weeks so I separated her and put her in a cage with air flow that could come up from the bottom. I kept her in the cage with food and water for about 4 days and then re-introduced her to the flock. Well, the broodiness was cured, but one of the other hens is rejecting her and beating the crap out of her. No matter what I do that particular hen does everything possible to attack the hen I re-introduced. Is there anything I can do? This flock has always done well together so this is really confusing to me. I also have another set of hens that are about 8 weeks old. I was going to integrate them into the flock in another 2 or 3 months, but the way this aggressive hen is acting I am afraid she will attack the younger hens as well. Help!!

 

[Mrs. K]

Put the aggressive hen in the broody cage for a bit and see how the rest of the flock acts toward the victim.

Flocks are funny things, and a birds brain hates change. If the rest of the flock accepts her, leave the aggressive bird alone for a few days. She is naturally aggressive and will more than likely find her place quickly when placed back in the flock. There might be another bird that will step up and be the new bully, if so, put her with the other bully. This will allow the vicitim a chance to make some bonds back in the flock. And actually the pair will make the introduction back into the flock better. A single bird is hard to introduce.

Generally speaking, keep birds together, reintroductions are tough.

Mrs K

 

[aart]

Curious was the broody crate right in the run or coop...or out of sight of the main flock?

I usually let my broody out of the crate(which is kept in the main coop) a couple times a day,
to test her resolve and to circumvent any reintroduction issues

 

[howie1963]

I isolated the hen away from the coop. Maybe that was the problem? Thanks for the insight.