OK I know that roosters will try to take the higher rank from other roosters but will hens do this? If so are they as violent as the roosters?
our hens are the ones that get the most vicious towards newbies... they tried to kill a couple of them on us... the roosters usually take the newbs "under their wing", looking out for them till they can fit in to the pecking order on their own...
My hens are way more vicious than my roos! My highest rank is a Delaware hen. Followed by a barred rock, RIR, all three of the silkie girls pretty much pick on whoever they feel like, but not each other.. The rest just follow the others. I can`t seem to determine who else outranks who.. I just know my lowest two are cochins...
Add a new hen I just watched one of my girls try to cock fight my youngest cockerel (8 weeks). He ran away while she kept attacking him. He's okay now, but none of the roosters even pecked him once. If you have roosters that fight, get rid of them. Unless they don't have enough girls to take care of (at least 10 hens each), they will fight over them. My roosters never fight. They keep the peace.
