my rhode island reds are so mean!!!!!!!!!!

[quintinp]

i have two rhode island reds in my small coop, with a few more other hens, but my rhode island red hens are so mean, i cant introduce new chickens to the flock without them dang near killin 'em i dont wanna kill them, but i wanna get rid of them

 

[Robert Blosl]

Its a start nothing wrong with that. Thousands of people get these type of Reds each year. I see them all over the country side.

One in 500 of these people may convert over to the real Rhode Island Red they don't have to show them. I got shelter dogs which are like these reds and I have no desire to won registered dogs anymore I did that with I was younger. I am a preservationist of rare breeds of poultry. If I got thrifty to fifthly people also helping me on this site out of say 3000 I am happy. They are happy and that's all that counts enjoy your chickens but understand what you have and their traits that you get when you buy them at a feed store. High egg production brings this out on these kind of birds. bob





If your males look like this guy they are docile. Notice the shade of Red. The lighter the color like a New Hampshire the more egg laying properties you have thus get males more aggressive. Its the leghorn blood coming to the surface that was introduced about 60 years ago to get Rhode Island Reds to lay lots of eggs for egg laying contests which was cheating. Therefor we are paying for these sins still today. These leghorn crossed rhode island reds called cherry eggers or production reds have tarnished the repetition of the true Rhode Island Red. Don't think we will ever get people to understand this in this age. That's the history of how it happened. bob

 

[D'Angelo N Va.]

try taking the RIR's out of the hen house for a couple of days and then put them back in....sometimes that is enough time for them to lose the peking order and they will not be so bossy any more.

 

[CMV]

Put an ad on Craigslist. Laying hens should be easy to get rid of. If they are decent layers you may get a bit of money for them. Some chickens are just ill-tempered. I have a GLW that is a bully and a brute. I should have dispatched her years ago. It would have saved me many integration woes.

Good luck.

 

[MakNugget]

Unless you're seeing blood, they're fine. It's hard to desensitize from all the chasing and feather picking but it has to happen for pecking order.

Even after it seems obvious what the pecking order should be, they will dish out reminders.

You didn't mention how old they were... my RIR calmed down (actually all my birds did) quite a bit after a week or two of laying. It's quite heartbreaking seeing how mean they can get but in my case it was worth waiting.

 

[Kathleen1115]

Red, our RIR was the sweetest most gentle chick in the flock. Loved to be held and would fall asleep in anyone's lap. For the last month she has been aggressive to any humans who enter the coop, pecks your hands and feet and give you an evil eye. What gives? She's 21 weeks old and hasn't started laying yet. She's not aggressive with the other chickens and I think she may be on the bottom of the pecking order.

 

[bock]

I have heard people say they were aggressive, but my one RIR hen is the nicest of the flock. Rose lays me an egg every day, and she is the only chicken of ours that actually comes up to us to be pet. However, her and my bantam cochin do gang up on my chihauhau mix and peck her in the face! I guess they just don't like little dogs?

I hope the 4 RIRs I just ordered are good natured!

 

[Beekissed]

I've always had nice RIR, no matter where they were purchased. Actually, I have had chickens of many breeds and never could really call any of them "mean"....no excessive pecking, chasing, fighting at all. Maybe because I free range? I'm not sure but I can't recall a chicken being overly mean to the others in the flock.

Do you have a roo? Maybe they are just dominant hens because you have no roo? Most of the people who complain about one breed or other being mean seems to have no roo to keep things in order, so the hens seem to be filling that job.

 

[quintinp]

yeah there is a rooster, he is a gold laced polish, he is really nice, i also forgot to mention that the two hens are about to be 4 years old

 

[nwfl]

I've had RIR and various sex links and they all made it into a soup pot eventually after terrorizing other birds. Tried time out pens but they usually continued assaults. I like a calm flock with a couple of dominant hens who don't need to lash out for the rest of the ladies to step aside. My roos have their own breeder pens on opposite side of layer run. Hens are only introduced when I breed them.