Is a killer hen more likely to reoffend?

[mrsmistoffelees02]

Hi all,

Came home to a nightmare today. I have a Brahma cockerel that started to have trouble walking on Tuesday evening. I wasn’t home until late yesterday (Wednesday), and was planning to separate him in a crate and treat him (I suspected vitamin deficiency) as soon as I got home today. He was alert and eating/drinking this morning. When I went to bring him to the recovery area I found him nearly dead on the floor and severely pecked in the head. I ended up having to cull because I knew there was no chance of recovery.

Very sad, I have never seen bloodshed among my chickens before. He was defenseless.
I know my favorite hen did it. She’s top of the pecking order - very territorial, but has never drawn blood or even pulled feathers before from any others. But after I buried my young rooster I noticed her pecking at other flock mates. I put her in a dog crate inside the coop because I’m worried she could reoffend now that she has a taste for blood. I’ve seen her peck at others before but this was the first drawn blood. I think she only went crazy on the rooster because he was weak, but I don’t know. I don’t know if anyone else ganged up on him as well.

Is she likely to cause more problems now that she knows the damage she can inflict?
I am heartbroken at the loss of my rooster, and now stressed about the prospect of my others getting hurt. I know most people would cull or get rid of the hen, but she is so friendly to me and is one of my original 3 chickens. I don’t want to consider this unless there is a high chance this could happen again.

 

[WIchickMama]

Did you see any blood on her?

Sorry for your loss, it sucks.

I honestly think repeat offenders depend on the chicken, much like everything else it seems

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Is she likely to cause more problems now that she knows the damage she can inflict?
I am heartbroken at the loss of my rooster, and now stressed about the prospect of my others getting hurt. I know most people would cull or get rid of the hen, but she is so friendly to me and is one of my original 3 chickens

Sorry for your loss.

Unless you've been feeding too many treats or not feeding an appropriate diet.. other things like crop dysfunction, Marek's, and more may also be of consideration. How long has he been with you? Do you have other flock members his age?

Any bird that is weak and under the weather (or defenseless) may be at risk from any other flock member.. pecking order can brutal and is one way the flock keeps diseases and predation at bay. I would NOT be considering culling that hen at this time and nor do I consider her behavior as "crazy" but natural.

The better question (to me) is will you have a repeat illness/injury/etc that invites pecking order issues? If there is another defenseless bird, count on a repeat. The mysterious ataxia (in-coordination/ trouble walking) is the problem here, not the hen IMO. I wouldn't worry about her "having a taste for blood". She isn't devil or a criminal murderer.. let her out of jail.

Worse case scenario.. maybe get her some "peepers".. but pecking at flock mates does not quiet equal bullying to me.. True, relentless, bullies are not welcome here.. and will be harvested, rehomed (sold) with disclosure, etc,

 

[aart]

Pretty rare for a hen to kill and male.
Chances are he died and it startled the others and they started pecking at him.
I actually saw this happen once.
Heard a flapping out in the run while cleaning coop.
Recognized the sound as a death flap, went right out and two of the birds were viciously pecking at the dead bird.
Not sure what killed the bird, but I imagine that she startled and flew into the run wall breaking her neck.

 

[mrsmistoffelees02]

Did you see any blood on her?

Sorry for your loss, it sucks.

I honestly think repeat offenders depend on the chicken, much like everything else it seems

Yes, she had blood on her leg and beak - I didn’t see blood on anyone else, but some might have been in on it. I just know she is the most temperamental.

Thank you It was jarring for sure. Very sad he went out this way. I’ve heard chickens can be brutal but it makes me so sad to see it in the flock I’ve raised since they were babies.

I have her in “jail” right now and I think she’ll stay there for a day or two. Hopefully it will take her down a couple notches on the totem pole. I just didn’t know if chickens would become more aggressive after bloodshed like dogs do, but if that doesn’t seem to be the case, I’ll keep holding onto hope that this was a one time occurrence.

 

[mrsmistoffelees02]

Pretty rare for a hen to kill and male.
Chances are he died and it startled the others and they started pecking at him.
I actually saw this happen once.
Heard a flapping out in the run while cleaning coop.
Recognized the sound as a death flap, went right out and two of the birds were viciously pecking at the dead bird.
Not sure what killed the bird, but I imagine that she startled and flew into the run wall breaking her neck.

She is a game hen, and has always been territorial. I’ve raised her with my others and she’s never caused any actual problems, but I know she can be a bully sometimes even to the Roos (because they are bantams and she is larger). Since I have never seen blood and everyone always eats and drinks without problem, I was never really worried about the bullying.
The victim was still alive when I found him, unfortunately. I wish he wasn’t so he didn’t suffer, I don’t know how long he was injured. I had to cull him because I knew there was no hope. I think she pecked him because she knew he was weak since he couldn’t really walk.

Thank you for your input and sharing your experience. It’s crazy how savage these little birds can be at times. I’ll keep this in mind for future reference.

 

[SourRoses]

Highly unlikely that she killed him. Much more likely to have happened the way @aart described.
Unless you have a coop camera, or someone witnessed the death, I would never jump to the conclusion that a hen killed a rooster.
Innocent until proven guilty.
That said, if I had such proof of a chicken's guilt, I would cull the offender. There are too many nice chickens out there to put up with bad ones.

ETA: Oh, I see I missed the part where you say he was still alive.

 

[mrsmistoffelees02]

Sorry for your loss.

Unless you've been feeding too many treats or not feeding an appropriate diet.. other things like crop dysfunction, Marek's, and more may also be of consideration. How long has he been with you? Do you have other flock members his age?

Any bird that is weak and under the weather (or defenseless) may be at risk from any other flock member.. pecking order can brutal and is one way the flock keeps diseases and predation at bay. I would NOT be considering culling that hen at this time and nor do I consider her behavior as "crazy" but natural.

The better question (to me) is will you have a repeat illness/injury/etc that invites pecking order issues? If there is another defenseless bird, count on a repeat. The mysterious ataxia (in-coordination/ trouble walking) is the problem here, not the hen IMO. I wouldn't worry about her "having a taste for blood". She isn't devil or a criminal murderer.. let her out of jail.

Worse case scenario.. maybe get her some "peepers".. but pecking at flock mates does not quiet equal bullying to me.. True, relentless, bullies are not welcome here.. and will be harvested, rehomed (sold) with disclosure, etc,

Thank you for your condolences it’s always hard.

I don’t think their diet is deficient, they don’t get as many greens as I’d like them to have since we’re in winter. He was fine earlier this week. Honestly I wouldn’t rule Mareks out, but it doesn’t seem to follow the usual pattern because he wasn’t paralyzed - just suddenly weak, like his body was too heavy for his legs to support. I didn’t consider crop dysfunction though.

It all happened so quickly, I wish I separated him sooner - I know weak birds could be picked on, but never would have imagined this would happen. I will be extra vigilant in the future to immediately remove anyone I suspect as under the weather.

I am concerned about that too, and agree with you. There are so many possibilities it’s hard to determine what the issue could be. I have a Serama that’s the same age my Brahma was, and he’s happy and healthy. The Brahma was always on the timid side, despite his size. He mostly stayed in the coop instead of going around scratching in the run like everyone else.
I am just praying nobody else falls ill.

I will definitely look into peepers. I love her very much and am glad to hear the taste of blood doesn’t make chickens more aggressive; I didn’t know if chickens act similar to how dogs behave after a bloody attack and was very worried about that.

Thank you for taking the time to respond, your words have helped reassure me a lot.