Hens won’t stop fighting

[Silvertoon]

Hi everybody,

My 4 years old hen won’t stop fighting with a newly introduced hen. The problem is this new hen is very troublemaker and my old hen is very territorial, they just took it very personal.

I never had issus with introducing new hens, every time a new hen joins the flock, they get a small beating by the cheif hen and then they just know their place and how to please her and not infuriate her.

Letting them fight is not an option, it’s just a deathmatch, I even let them out and went home because i hate seeing cockfights and gave them few mins to sort it out and when i then went back to the coop to see what happened, they were still grudingly fighting.

Any solutions? Do i need to keep this way so that they can see each other and not fight, I need to ensure peace in the coop as this is the best time of the year for breeding.

 

[Silvertoon]

In case you’re wondering about the rest of the coop, these are my bodies.

Bad news is that the little roosters start to get legarthic and show end-of-life symptoms.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

One of the little appreciated facts of having a rooster is that it is his job to enforce domestic tranquility in the flock. At least as long as the rooster is old enough to dominate your hens that is. However I have had hens who refused the roosters advances and had him turn his back on such a hen and leave her to face the aggressor hen or hens alone.

What you are witnessing is called gameness or the determination to fight on and win or die trying.

 

[Silvertoon]

You’re right, the rooster is doing his job and tried to keep them away from each other, but they just refused any intervertion from him. He then left them and went after the other calm females to flirt with them. This rooster is newly introduced and even though he fought with the little roosters, he then left them without bullying as he knew they were not a threat maybe because of the obvious size and hight difference. But these two hens are actually trying to kill each other and I have no clue what I have to do. There must be a way to manipulate them into peace but I just don’t know how.

 

[cavemanrich]

Separate the aggressor, and try to reintroduce after a week. If same thing happens then you may have to look to rehome options or otherwise. You may also consider trimming the top portion of beak.(last resort) It will keep the injuries minimal. I seen roosters with trimmed beaks. Not pretty though. They still can eat and drink. If bottom of beak was trimmed, chicken would not be able to drink water.

 

[Silvertoon]

I’ve came across goggles that block some of the chicken’s eyesight but i don’t know if that would work as some people reported that these googles were almost useless. They are separated but they can still see each others.

I’ve raised many game breeds before and never had this issue, especially among the females, but I don’t know what’s wrong with them.

I’ve been raising bantams and even though they were very territorial, they never showed homcidal behaviors, they just have that typical pecking order system, but due to low frequncey of broodiness and laying, low immunity to diseases, i kind of have lost interest in them.

 

[cavemanrich]

You are referring to these things called peepers or something similar. I have never used them or needed to. I have read that some did have success . The chicken cant see right in front , so aggression is curbed.
Worth a try. They are inexpensive, but I heard you get a pretty large quantity per order even though you only need a few. Check with your local feed store if you can purchase just a few.

 

[centrarchid]

You are messing with games, but not wearing the hat needed to do so. Some, even on the female side, are not compatible. A mature settled cock often solves problem you are having, but that is not working now. When I have hens that really want to battle, then they are not confined and I manage the free-range fight closely to prevent damage. Something I have found that breaks up fights is a properly trained dog that pens the combatants down.

Most people with games like you have that are actually game isolate mature females from each other just like with the males. Females raised together and kept together are much less likely to pose such challenges.

I would setup another pen for the new hen.

 

[azygous]

I agree with the idea of separating these two hens if you want peace. My run has been partitioned off into sections just to cope with situations such as this. Eventually, and it could take weeks, the two combatants will get used to one another and calm down. Chicken rivalry can be a fleeting thing.

If you get some of those "goggles", called pinless peepers, you will need to install them on both of these hens, not just one or you will set up one hen for slaughter by the one not wearing the peepers.

 

[Silvertoon]

I’ve sent the new lady to the other side of house where there is a garden, there’s a rooster in rehabilition there with behavioral problems, His defensive insticts were somehow bred out of him in spite of being the same breed as these aggressive hens. Even a mini bantam rooster bullied him. He is flirtatious but i don’t think he’s capable of breeding that is why he’s been retired.

The new chief rooster is reliable and sounds really good, but he’s physically compitable with only these types of stubborn breed, and I’m expecting new females of the same breed in the next week, so I hope these peepers will work on them and calm them.

Of course both of the sinister females need to be fixed with peepers, or I will not even imagine what would happen.


By the way, whenever i introduce new females, should i fix them with the peepers or observe their adaptive behvaior first?