Silkie attacked

[Teacherchick18]

View attachment 1519031 View attachment 1519032 View attachment 1519033 We have an established mixed flock of 8 hens. We’ve had our birds for several years now and never had any problems. Today I looked out at the run and saw to my horror, several of my hens jumping on top of and attacking my silkie. They had managed to tear up and bloody the back of her neck/head. I was able to remove her from the flock, however I am concerned about putting her back with them. I don’t know why they did this. My only thought is they were competing for a particular spot in the run and it turned ugly. At what point should I put her back with the flock? We have a small coop that I can keep her in until she heals, but will it just happen again? I really couldn’t tell what started it or even who for that matter. These girls have been together for years so I am surprised that this has happened when we’ve never had aggression in the past. Thank you in advance for any advice or insight you can offer!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

It she your only silkie? Other breeds and ages?

How big of a set up? How many birds in it?

What are you feeding?

I ask because sudden aggression can be brought on by a protein deficiency, especially in birds 1-3 years old this time of year as birds are getting wore out, and the molt is starting.

Silkies are always best kept with other silkies or gentle bantams. Bantam arguments are generally mostly noise, standard breeds can get much rougher during disagreement. Silkies also can't always see well so they may miss visual cues from other birds and get in trouble for it.

Silkies can act odd, and go broody often which can also trigger aggression in other hens. I personally wouldn't put her back, and you need to figure out why it happened.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Oh and I can't view your photos.

 

[snow5164]

I’m so sorry for your little girl ,
She will have to be separate until she has completely healed . I’d really check her for mites , hens usually have a reason for an attack and a sick hen is an easy target .

If she’s clear I’d keep her out til there’s no sign of an injury and even then they might just not except her back in ....it is so sad

 

[Teacherchick18]

I will try to upload the pics again. They are all between 1 and 4 years of age. She is the only silkie. We have 2 ameraucanas, 1 cuckoo Maran, 1 Dominique, 1 Cochin, 1 RIR, and 1 mixed breed of a comet or something white. The coop is about 5.5’x 4.5’ and the run is 20’x 10’x 6’ with an additional space that goes under the coop. Every few days we let them out to free range. I think it has to do with competing for a specific spot in the run. I am in central Texas and it gets super hot. There are a few different places in the run to go for shade, however, the entire group likes to congregate in the same exact spot! I’m sure this led to the opportunity to gang up. As for their food, I feed them layer feed and some scratch. I don’t give them official chicken “treats”, however, they do get plenty of fruit and veggies from our kitchen, and then of course, any bugs they catch in the yard when we let them out. I could definitely mix up the activities in their run to give them more to do. I can even add larger shade spots where they will all fit better. I hatch eggs in my classroom every spring, so that is how I got such a variety....it’s basically whatever eggs I could find for free or cheap. Hope this info helps! Thank you for your response!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I will try to upload the pics again. They are all between 1 and 4 years of age. She is the only silkie. We have 2 ameraucanas, 1 cuckoo Maran, 1 Dominique, 1 Cochin, 1 RIR, and 1 mixed breed of a comet or something

Oh goodness, poor girl. If possible I wouldn't put her back with them. Those are some rough breeds.

 

[alexa009]

Definitely keep her separated from your other bullies and once she recovers, don't put her back into the flock. Its definitely not a good idea to put one bantam with standard breeds, especially with Rhode Island Reds. Integrating one chicken with a bigger flock can be quite distressing too. My delaware and australorp (jerks) completely tore the skin off my buff orpington and started drawing blood. Chickens are attracted to the color red so the rest of the flock will end up killing the chicken who is bleeding by pecking at their wounds. I Hope things work out for your silkie!