I have a flock of 7 that gets along very well. 5 are hatch-mate hens almost 2 years old, and 2 are hatch-mate pullets from last spring. The pullets haven't started laying yet, though they look to be close. The hens took a long break for winter, and today we finally got our first egg post-break. But suddenly the flock has turned against the hen that has resumed laying! She's been hiding in the coop all day, and when I went to check on them, she came out only to have the flock descend upon her. I guarded her with my arms but her flock-mates were determined and kept trying to get past me to peck at her. Her comb and face are quite bloodied, there's blood all over the coop, and her head and neck look very wet, though not all of it is blood, some looks like water. It's been raining today. They have dry areas in the run and the rest of the chickens are dry. So now I'm trying to figure out what happened and what I should do... Did she get wet from the rain, and they pecked her because she looked different, and it snowballed once they saw blood? Or did they peck at her in her vulnerable state sitting in the nesting box? She was mostly sitting with her butt out, head in towards the back of the box so her head wasn't accessible to the others (you can see the nesting boxes in the photo). Though maybe she turned around at some point. I checked on them periodically on the coop cam, while she was laying, and there were always 1-2 hens standing in front of the box showing interest, but no pecking. Do you guys have any ideas why this is suddenly happening? They have never bloodied each other before, ever. They used to fight over nesting boxes, when all of them were laying, but not by pecking each other, but rather by piling on top of each other and making screeching noises, but no pecking.
I have currently separated the hen out - locked her in the coop with food and water (the flock has food and water outside). I'll keep her there for the rest of the day until she dries up and her comb heals up some. Do I need to put anything on it? Does she need a bath? How long should I keep her separated? Any input would be appreciated. She's one of my favorites and I really don't want this to go downhill.
Thanks!
I have currently separated the hen out - locked her in the coop with food and water (the flock has food and water outside). I'll keep her there for the rest of the day until she dries up and her comb heals up some. Do I need to put anything on it? Does she need a bath? How long should I keep her separated? Any input would be appreciated. She's one of my favorites and I really don't want this to go downhill.
Thanks!