Only two hens left, bully behavior, what would you do?

[thecatumbrella]

This will likely be my last thread for a while. I'm down to 2 hens: my 7 month-old Black Australorps who, up until recently, were very bonded and close.

A couple hours after we rehomed our previous chicken, Pepper began to guard the feeder from Mushroom. We immediately put out a second feeder at the other end of the pen, but Mushroom strongly prefers to eat with Pepper. This has continued for the last 10 days. Mushroom started laying at about the same time as the resource guarding started, and has struggled with shell-less eggs. I'm concerned this is because she's not eating enough. We're trying every trick in the book to make sure she gets enough nutrition throughout the day. It's been a challenge. There's a lot of tension in the pen, and Mushroom's comb is littered with little black dots from Pepper's bites.

Pepper has also been aggressive towards us for about a month. I planned to ride it out and see if she'd settled down, or rehome her in the spring once new chicks are integrated and Mushroom has companions.

I have a Facebook acquaintance that's been taking in my production reds. She takes fantastic care of her chickens, has a full-on free range environment with roosters to help settle disputes and keep the peace. My Australorps are scheduled to head there tomorrow. I feel like I'm out of options. It's very cold out, so isolation has to be limited. And again, I only have the two chickens. Seeing the end is making me an emotional wreck. I want to do what's best for them.

What would you do?

*

Some clarifications:
- both hens are laying
- Mushroom is getting supplemental calcium citrate for the shell-less eggs
- they eat 17% layer feed with a tiny amount of black solider fly larvae at bedtime
- pen is 9x12 with a roosting section and dig box

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

At this rate, I doubt the resource guarding is going to ever stop, so I would unfortunately suggest you to re-home them both unless someone has a better idea.

 

[thecatumbrella]

At this rate, I doubt the resource guarding is going to ever stop, so I would unfortunately suggest you to re-home them both unless someone has a better idea.

I appreciate the input. It feels like everything's leaning that way, sadly.

 

[GirlsHuntToo]

It's a hard call.
Pepper needs to stop being a jerk!

 

[thecatumbrella]

It's a hard call.
Pepper needs to stop being a jerk!

This would be ideal. I love Pepper, but she's a stew pot chicken if I ever met one.

 

[K0k0shka]

2 is not a good number, for many reasons and this is one of them. If they happen to not get along for some reason, they have no other friends to diffuse the tension and hang out with, no higher ranking queen/king to stop fights and resolve disputes. Adding more chickens now would only stress everybody out. Unfortunately rehoming these two (into a much bigger flock) seems like the most practical choice.

 

[tripletfeb]

Get more chickens and try pinless peepers on the bully

 

[thecatumbrella]

2 is not a good number, for many reasons and this is one of them. If they happen to not get along for some reason, they have no other friends to diffuse the tension and hang out with, no higher ranking queen/king to stop fights and resolve disputes. Adding more chickens now would only stress everybody out. Unfortunately rehoming these two (into a much bigger flock) seems like the most practical choice.

Agreed. They're settling into their new home this morning.

This is anecdotal, but I believe there's such a thing as too few chickens. 3 worked for a couple months until it didn't, and the problems just snowballed down. We'll get a minimum of 6 next time and do a better job with their space.

 

[ksbkeys]

This will likely be my last thread for a while. I'm down to 2 hens: my 7 month-old Black Australorps who, up until recently, were very bonded and close.

A couple hours after we rehomed our previous chicken, Pepper began to guard the feeder from Mushroom. We immediately put out a second feeder at the other end of the pen, but Mushroom strongly prefers to eat with Pepper. This has continued for the last 10 days. Mushroom started laying at about the same time as the resource guarding started, and has struggled with shell-less eggs. I'm concerned this is because she's not eating enough. We're trying every trick in the book to make sure she gets enough nutrition throughout the day. It's been a challenge. There's a lot of tension in the pen, and Mushroom's comb is littered with little black dots from Pepper's bites.

Pepper has also been aggressive towards us for about a month. I planned to ride it out and see if she'd settled down, or rehome her in the spring once new chicks are integrated and Mushroom has companions.

I have a Facebook acquaintance that's been taking in my production reds. She takes fantastic care of her chickens, has a full-on free range environment with roosters to help settle disputes and keep the peace. My Australorps are scheduled to head there tomorrow. I feel like I'm out of options. It's very cold out, so isolation has to be limited. And again, I only have the two chickens. Seeing the end is making me an emotional wreck. I want to do what's best for them.

What would you do?

*

Some clarifications:
- both hens are laying
- Mushroom is getting supplemental calcium citrate for the shell-less eggs
- they eat 17% layer feed with a tiny amount of black solider fly larvae at bedtime
- pen is 9x12 with a roosting section and dig box

What about introducing two or three new grown chickens to increase the size of your flock? Perhaps this would distract and Mushroom would be near the top of the pecking order.

 

[K0k0shka]

Agreed. They're settling into their new home this morning.

This is anecdotal, but I believe there's such a thing as too few chickens. 3 worked for a couple months until it didn't, and the problems just snowballed down. We'll get a minimum of 6 next time and do a better job with their space.

I agree that there is such a thing as too few chickens. By their very nature chickens are very combative and prone to conflict, even within their own flock, even with siblings, parents and children, etc. - more so than other social animals. Chickens are just jerks. So flock dynamics are more important with them, and maintaining peace is more tricky.