Is my hen part of the flock?

[Joanne85]

I have three hens and a rooster, they all hatched and grew together they are 8 months. They are all friendly enough and like cuddles. My white head hen (Goujon) is quite calm and tolerates the black hen (Nugget) without too much bother. My second white hen (Cindy) is a bit crazy, she has accepted having a head hen but doesn’t like the black hen near them when in the garden, although the black hen works it and follows them around knowing what bed she can and can’t go into, the head hen is slowly starting to act up towards the black hen also on occasion. Cindy will keep black hen away from food and the coop during the day, they all settle back into coop fine in the night without issues. Today I put them in coop during day, Cindy wouldn’t stop attacking black hen, I removed Cindy to see how the three would get on, the head hen started chasing black hen around, she knocked the bowl which annoyed the rooster and he also grabbed the black hen which resulted in a lot of feather loss. I put them all out again and they are back to themselves again. What will I do with the black hen, she is so gentle she has never pecked any of them back and tries soo hard to be a part of the group, lightly pecking all the others and bowing down to them and I thought it was working until now. Any ideas…or is this normal? She is the nicest of them all and is even trying to make friends with the dog. Thanks in advance

 

[azygous]

I don't know if I'm understanding the issue here. Is it the black hen's timidity the issue? Is she getting bullied and attacked by the others?

If this is the case, here is my article on bullying and what you can do to help the bullying victim stand up for herself. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/chicken-bully-chicken-victim-a-two-sided-issue.73923/

 

[Joanne85]

I don't know if I'm understanding the issue here. Is it the black hen's timidity the issue? Is she getting bullied and attacked by the others?

If this is the case, here is my article on bullying and what you can do to help the bullying victim stand up for herself. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/chicken-bully-chicken-victim-a-two-sided-issue.73923/

Great I will look at that thanks, yes black hen is definitely being chased by the second hen most of the time and she is so gentle she just lets them.

 

[Joanne85]

I don't know if I'm understanding the issue here. Is it the black hen's timidity the issue? Is she getting bullied and attacked by the others?

If this is the case, here is my article on bullying and what you can do to help the bullying victim stand up for herself. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/chicken-bully-chicken-victim-a-two-sided-issue.73923/

This is great info thanks…I have been removing the bully but now I will remove the victim (black hen) the way you have and hopefully this gives her confidence to stand her ground.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I have three hens and a rooster, they all hatched and grew together they are 8 months.

Those aren't hens and a rooster yet..

Chances are your dark hen is the last to lay and has the least amount of hormones surging.

This is a young flock that is entering their first laying age spring.. things can get off the hook.. hormones surging with daylight increasing, increases competition. Time of year is likely impacting the dynamic here.

Once mature.. a good rooster will settle these disputes.. They allow bullying of the lady that ain't putting out for them and even participate.

Please be sure when you remove the "victim" that she remains in sight of the others.

FWIW.. chickens and dogs (and many humans) will all jump on whoever is the bottom of the fight and take advantage of the chaos to raise their place in the pecking order.. this is how cannibalization takes place. Yes, I too did it when immature and got it done to me.

Great article and thinking outside the box @azygous! There's always two sides to every story.

I will note that sometimes humans can't stand what they think they're seeing and their intervention just prolongs the issue instead of it working itself out quickly. Most pecking order disputes that suddenly arise also suddenly work out.. long term issues are of course different.. but one day is a sudden issue to me.. I MIGHT wait and see for a couple days and take action if it continues after several days to a week, for informational purposes.

Hopefully things will settle down shortly!

 

[Mrs. K]

It would be helpful to see more of your coop, and run, and measurements. Almost all behavior problems are due to not enough space. Some birds can tolerate crowding better than others. I don't think your birds are handling it.

What I think they are telling you is that three birds fit in that coop/run and 4 birds do not. Crowded coops make for this kind of behavior. A lot of those pre-fab coops say they will hold 6 birds, when really they hold 3 much better.

Being raised together, and free ranging will not make up for a too small coop. Very often, what was more than enough space for chicks, rapidly becomes not enough space for full size birds. I think that is where you are now.

I always solve for peace in the flock. The thing with fighting, it upsets everyone, even the ones that are winning. The easiest solution is to sell one of the point of lay birds, or even two of them. It is easier to sell them than the rooster. But personally, I would cull him first.

Another solution is to build bigger, but that takes a lot of time and money. You really don't have that options, unless you can tolerate this behavior.

Mrs K

 

[Joanne85]

Those aren't hens and a rooster yet..

Chances are your dark hen is the last to lay and has the least amount of hormones surging.

This is a young flock that is entering their first laying age spring.. things can get off the hook.. hormones surging with daylight increasing, increases competition. Time of year is likely impacting the dynamic here.

Once mature.. a good rooster will settle these disputes.. They allow bullying of the lady that ain't putting out for them and even participate.

Please be sure when you remove the "victim" that she remains in sight of the others.

FWIW.. chickens and dogs (and many humans) will all jump on whoever is the bottom of the fight and take advantage of the chaos to raise their place in the pecking order.. this is how cannibalization takes place. Yes, I too did it when immature and got it done to me.

Great article and thinking outside the box @azygous! There's always two sides to every story.

I will note that sometimes humans can't stand what they think they're seeing and their intervention just prolongs the issue instead of it working itself out quickly. Most pecking order disputes that suddenly arise also suddenly work out.. long term issues are of course different.. but one day is a sudden issue to me.. I MIGHT wait and see for a couple days and take action if it continues after several days to a week, for informational purposes.

Hopefully things will settle down shortly!

Thanks, the 3 hens have all been laying each day since they were 5 months…the bullying has been going on for a couple months now, I thought it was getting better but seems to be getting worse that’s why I reached out for info here. I have noticed the black hen has started staying close to the rooster, although he is far more interested in the other two. He has a hormone micro chip in him so I don’t know will he be the best rooster for her protection. I am hoping all will settle…

 

[Joanne85]

It would be helpful to see more of your coop, and run, and measurements. Almost all behavior problems are due to not enough space. Some birds can tolerate crowding better than others. I don't think your birds are handling it.

What I think they are telling you is that three birds fit in that coop/run and 4 birds do not. Crowded coops make for this kind of behavior. A lot of those pre-fab coops say they will hold 6 birds, when really they hold 3 much better.

Being raised together, and free ranging will not make up for a too small coop. Very often, what was more than enough space for chicks, rapidly becomes not enough space for full size birds. I think that is where you are now.

I always solve for peace in the flock. The thing with fighting, it upsets everyone, even the ones that are winning. The easiest solution is to sell one of the point of lay birds, or even two of them. It is easier to sell them than the rooster. But personally, I would cull him first.

Another solution is to build bigger, but that takes a lot of time and money. You really don't have that options, unless you can tolerate this behavior.

Mrs K

Thanks, that’s great advice…I am moving to a new house in few weeks and plan to have a new area made for them with more nesting boxes and bars for them, so if they do need to go in during day there’s space for them and play things