Background: We had 6 hens. They were raised together and bought as chicks. Then one got taken down by a dog and we have now replaced her with another. This was just a few days ago. But it seems that the one that was killed was the head of the pecking order, and so all hell has broken loose in that regard. My chickens are 10 wks old now, and I have several breeds. Two Buff Orphingtons, one Americana, one Black Asrolorp, and one new 14 wk old Light Barhma. The light Barhma was just introduced to the flock this week. We were told by the chicken guy to just toss her in and let them hammer it out. It seemed to be working until tonight. My Astrolorp hen is MEAN! She has made two other hens bleed tonight, and she won't let the new one roost on the roosting poll at all. What should I do? (If anything?) Should I really just let them hammer it out? I know she isn't a roo... Her comb and feathers are very much 'hen' but she is SO dominate! Jumping on the other hens backs, taking food from their mouths and then dropping it to peck at them, chasing them and making their combs bleed. It's really kind of horrible to watch. How long do I let this go on before removing her from the set? Thanks!
Well, I guess I'd watch and see if she's concentrating on getting at the other's head and face. I guess you could tell if she's seriously trying to kill one of the others, they'll run and hide their head if they can and the aggressive one will be on top just chomping away trying to get at the head. There shouldn't be too much feather pulling. There usually has to be some show of who is the boss but sometimes it can go too far. Just a peck here and there is normal. I had two roosters like that. One day the old rooster's son decided it was time for the old man to go and he never stopped wanting to kill his old man. I had to protect the poor guy or it would have been a real ugly finish. Right now I've got a little bitty RIR hen, lost lots of feathers because she's my roosters favorite, very vocal and bosses the others. It's funny because she's so small.
