I need to vent about my hen's behavior . . .

[karimw]

Maybe she'll feel better after she finishes her molt? Too bad you can't box her up for a little bit and see if she out grows it.

 

[Camshaft]

Well, you can try what I did...One of my hens started to attack the runt that I was hand feading so I grabbed the attacker by the neck and lowered her head down to the ground and held her there. I wasn't hurting her, just holding her there so she couldn't get away. There was silence in the flock...they all stared at the attacker for a while , then the runt came over to her and gave her a peck on the head and walked away..proud looking. Then I let her go and that was it. There's pecking going on now and then but nothing like it was before. If it starts again...I'll do the same thing.
PS: Put gloves on if your going to do it! :-((

 

[flakey chick]

I found that an oil supplement really helped my alpha BR deal with her molt.
Peepers can help with aggression.
Booby-trapped eggs (blown out and filled with mustard) can help with egg eating.

Dumplings provide a single solution to all 3 problems though.

It does seem to me that BR's are prone to bad molts and dominating personalities.

 

[Ridgerunner]

A bully and a brute. An egg eater. Consistently lays thin shelled unusable eggs, which could be a gentic problem. Sounds like some of this has been going on before the molt started. I would not try to rehome her unless they wanted her just to eat her. Passing the problem on to someone else would not be nice. To me a hen that destroys the tranqulity of the flock and is not productive would not last long. I had an egg eater. I ate her before she taught my other hens to eat eggs.

I've eaten roosters for bad behavior and I've eaten hens for bad behavior. There are too many good ones out there to put up with this one.

 

[fargosmom]

So here's the update. I gave her a few more days, and while she improved slightly she was still pulling feathers out of one of the EE's, and still laying thin-shelled eggs which she would promptly eat, and so her "unhappy day" came over the weekend. The 2 EE's seem to be calmer, although I do think they realize she's gone and they seem a little unsure of things right now. But at least they're not being bullied, and I hope that they will forget about eating eggs now that the main culprit is gone (they're not laying right now - it will probably be a couple of months at least before they start again). Fingers crossed that we will have a more peaceable kingdom, and in the spring I'll get them some new sisters (but I think I'll stick to EE's from now on - they seem the nicest . . . )
Many thanks to all of you who responded, mostly for being nice and understanding. It was a difficult step to take, I did not take it lightly, and I appreciate that I was not slammed for it.
Cheers to all, and happy holidays!

 

[Gooter]

I also have limited experience but have learned a lot pretty quickly. I have 3 Silver Laced Wyandottes and 2 Wellsummer girls. Right now I've got my SLWs in one yard and my 2 Wellsummers in another with a great (white/splash) rooster. The eldest of the SLWs is MEAN! Or I should say - WAS mean.

I rescued the rooster from 50 hens who had pecked nearly every feather off him - didn't want him to freeze over winter. I rescued him because he is the most outstanding rooster! He has all his feathers now, but his one weakness was that he stood and let the hens graze on him. My girls don't do that. Anyway, I was getting tired of the mean SLW brutalizing the other girls so I just stuck her in with the roo and Wells and he straightened her out! My roo will not tolerate any squabbling amongst his girls. He put her in her place straight away and after about a week of that (he wasn't easy on her) I put her back with the other 2 SLWs and she's been a perfect docile queen ever since. In fact, I think she's no longer lead beeotch. By comparison, he is very tender and gentle to my Wellsummer girls as they are quiet, sweet best-of-buddy girls.

I did have some hens that I took in for a friend and one of them was laying shell-less eggs. I got sick of the mess right away and culled her. She had apparently been doing it for some time at her home of origin but the owner couldn't figure out which chicken was doing it.

I love this rooster, but unfortunately I need to find him a new home. I have a gorgeous (but otherwise useless) Favorelle roo that I want to keep and the two of them are going to drive me crazy with the continuous crowing! Anyone need a great rooster to keep peace and protect the flock? Sigh...