Problems Getting along

[Courtney R]

My sisters each got o Rhode island Red and i put them in the coop w/ my chicken, and they r around the same age, but she started attacking them, she had eggs that she had been sitting on, but after that i threw them out, they were there 2 long any way. But now they r bettr situated, She will still peck them, but i think that its the pecking order or hiererchy.But i realized that 1 of the Reds had a lil bit of blood on its comb, and wen it goes inside the nesting spot the othr Red goes in there and pecks her head wen she lays down 2 lay?

 

[Lacrystol]

Sounds like a pecking problem, when you put them together did you just put them all together at once or did you gradually put them together? Whenever introducing a new chicken to another the rule of thumb is to keep them separated for a month but allow them to see each other. Really does help with domineering. If they are pecking at her that bad, you may want to do the separation thing now before they cause so much damage to her head causing major injures. Try to keep her separated so they can't get to her but in a spot to where the "peckers" can see her. This will give her a chance to recover with the minor injures that she has now..

 

[Smoochie]

If another hen is pecking a new broody hen it would probably be best to separate them until she isn't broody.

 

[Courtney R]

Yea, i have the 2 Reds in the chicken coop and the 1 that pecks them is let out, but she can c them. I sumtimez let them out together but i watch them.

 

[Courtney R]

? Whats a broody, i think i have heard of it b4. And how can i tell if its a broody yet or not?

 

[sumi]

When a hen goes broody it means she want to incubate some eggs. It's a hormonal thing. Her body temperature will go up a bit, she'll eat less, walk around puffed up and possibly clucking and she'll get very upset if she's sitting on an egg and you take it from her. She'll probably screech and peck you if you try. Hens undergo quite a personality change when they are broody!

 

[Courtney R]

oh ok, i took the eggs away a cuople days ago and i think shes out of it now, but im not completely sure