One Mean Wyandotte

[SilberHenne]

One of my Silver Laced Wyandotte hens is frequently beating the snot out of both my roosters to the point that they are afraid to go near any of the hens. They are getting quite frustrated dancing for them and then running away in fear. I never expected a hen to be any match for a rooster, let alone a team of them. We are introducing new pullets to hopefully give the roos some friends, but I have a feeling my one mean Wyandotte is going to bully them too.

Should I separate this hen for a while until the new birds are situated and then reintroduce her? Or will she always just be a bully?

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

I’d separate her just to mix up the pecking order. Remove the bully and she loses her spot in the order.

 

[SueT]

Pinless Peepers stop a chicken from pecking others. They are blinders that really work. They don't interfere with eating or drinking. This hen wore them for about 6 months. I removed them, and she is now polite to everyone.

 

[aart]

Would be curious to know the whole story here...
Flock size(numbers, ages, genders),
Coop and run(size in feet by feet with pics).
Wondering if it's an integration/space problem.

 

[Acre4Me]

Good luck! Not much advice to add, since could be many reasons for her behavior.

Our SLW was originally named "Lacey"....but it was deemed to be too sweet of a name for such a sassy girl. Her name is now "Sylvia" - it seems to match her temperament a bit better.

 

[Ebony Rose]

I’d separate her just to mix up the pecking order. Remove the bully and she loses her spot in the order.

I second the motion. About a week ought to do it, and if you keep them within eyesight of each other, you shouldn't have problems reintegrating Sylvia.

 

[HennyPenny2019]

One of my Silver Laced Wyandotte hens is frequently beating the snot out of both my roosters to the point that they are afraid to go near any of the hens. They are getting quite frustrated dancing for them and then running away in fear. I never expected a hen to be any match for a rooster, let alone a team of them. We are introducing new pullets to hopefully give the roos some friends, but I have a feeling my one mean Wyandotte is going to bully them too.

Should I separate this hen for a while until the new birds are situated and then reintroduce her? Or will she always just be a bully?

Is this a trait of the breed? I’m concerned because this is my breed choice. I really want “ friendly” chickens since I can only have a few.

 

[SilberHenne]

Thanks! I will try separating her and see how it goes, at least until after the chicks are integrated. If she is still a jerk, we will try the blinders!

We have five 1-year-old hens (3 SLW, 2 BSL), two 8-month-old Belgian D'uccle roosters, and nine 5-week-old pullets (6 BA, 2 RIR, 1 blue laced red Wyandotte). The chicks are still in a 8 square foot brooder, but we let them outside with the adults on warm days to forage. They have separate space when confined. The adults stay in a 96 square foot multi-level covered run at night and we let them out to roam a large wooded area until dusk when our local barred owls become active. The second level adds 32 square feet extra and they have 12 feet of roosting space above that which will be expanded to 16 when the pullets are added. I don't have any good pictures of the finished run/coop, but this is from when we were still in the process of building the second level and roosts. We built this way primarily for airflow since it is very hot and humid here. The lower level stays very cool and dry and they prefer to nest there.

As for Wyandotte temperament, none of mine except the new chick are friendly. My other two hens are very aloof, and they were handled often as babies. They aren't mean, but they are extremely different from my BSLs who follow me around all day. The new chick is a fluke and super sweet, but that might change. We got her as a suprise rare breed, and I even joked we would just get another stupid Wyandotte! They are independent and brave, but not friendly in my experience. We got the new Australorps because I heard they are very sweet and the RIRs hoping they will be social like the BSLs.

 

[wild chick]

My experience with Wyandottes: I started with Wyandottes as my first chickens - 20 straight run: 10 gold and 10 silver, figured on 10 hens and 10 males, got 9 and 11. Kept the best looking gold & silver males and of course all the females. The gold male attacked people at 6 months, so he was out. The silver male was fine until the gold left, then he began attacking people. Tried for a year to make it work, but finally he had to go. Kept one of his sons that was out of a gold hen, so it's a Silver with gold "leakage" roo and he's a perfect gentleman. Some of the hens do have some aggression issues, but once they are settled in the pecking order they are fine. The ones lowest are the meanest to newcomers. Since the first chicks, I've only had chicks raised by hens in the flock - no introductions of strangers. Mine free range all day, so no space problems. I see your roosters are 8 months and the hens are a year old. I'm not sure that it's a breed problem or just getting to be part of the flock pecking order. All of mine eventually learned to like the new roo, even though some of them gave him a really hard time coming up. I think that's what has made him such a good roo. He had to earn his respect, he never had the opportunity to demand it. For you, 2 teenage cockerels to 5 pullets is a bit of pressure on the girls and could make them more cross toward them. I now have a total of 16 hens/pullets to the one rooster and am finally seeing things calm down. In my short years of having chickens they have taught me so much just by observation. #1 is that Pecking Order is Always A Thing. Elders always rule the pullets and cockerels. When the cockerel is rooster age, they will usually / eventually win over the hens that use to peck them down, but it's harder to win them over than the pullets younger than him. When the pullets become hens, there is yet another shift with the hen pecking order.
So many posters here have years and years of experience and I just have 3 years, so I'd look for more answers than what I have. The SLW breed - I have hatchery stock - is mixed. I have a couple of very very personable ones, so much so that one has a free pass for life... and a couple that were so aggressive and harsh I decided to expand to other breeds and even sent one to the freezer for being impossibly aggressive to the new pullets raised in the flock. Living and learning and loving it. Sorry I got so long winded on this post!!!

 

[aart]

Is this a trait of the breed? I’m concerned because this is my breed choice. I really want “ friendly” chickens since I can only have a few.

Ehhh.... not necessarily.
I would never go by breed regarding disposition, all birds are individuals.
But expecting birds to be 'friendly' might be disappointing.
If you want chickens to be cuddlers, you have to start working with them as chicks and continue to do so. Have had birds hate to be touched as chicks no matter how much time I spent, then all of sudden want to be touched and picked up(blew my mind), they grew out of that tho, but were still easy to handle when needed(I am not a chicken cuddler).
The SLW I've had were pretty friendly with me, but rather bossy with the flock.
Had a GLW mix years ago, got her as an adult, she was a biotch to all the birds.