Sudden aggression after laying resumes

You might try pin-less peepers on that mean girl. A lot of people swear by them.

Mrs K
Ooh, good idea, thanks! I've read about them, it just didn't cross my mind in this particular case. I need to adjust my frame of mind... I still don't think of her as mean, but that's exactly what she is. I want my sweet girl back :hit
 
Meanie is in jail until further notice. I set her up last night, but I ran out of time before sundown and everybody was rushing to get in and go to bed, so I didn't get around to putting a poop cover on top, but I'll do that at some point today. Part of me wanted her to get pooped on, haha. She has a roost in there, but slept on the floor. Whatever. She has food and her own heated waterer. And I'm looking into getting her some pinless peepers.

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The rehabilitated hen was the first one in the coop at bedtime (despite me still drilling and making noise in there), and the first one up on the roost! She really couldn't wait to get back to normal life, poor thing.

Bully #2, the dark pullet, is very upset that her idol is now jailed. She keeps pacing back and forth along the chicken wire, making her complaining noises, and spends a lot of time in the coop hanging out near the inmate, while everybody else is out right now enjoying the 20-degree sunshine. Up until now, I had not realized what a bond had formed between the SL hen and the dark pullet. The dark pullet has always been assertive and trying to earn her place among the big girls, and it seems like she's been shadowing and copying this particular hen, including copying her bullying behavior. So I'm glad the two have been separated for now, as sad as it is to break up friends. She's just been hanging with the bad crowd, and it's not good for her. Without the SL hen's influence, the pullet can't take on a hen on her own, even though she tries, so now she can be put in her place by the others. But with the SL hen around, the pullet gets awfully bold and joins in on the attacks. So hopefully the separation will put a stop to this trajectory, and she won't turn into another bully.


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I don't want to anthropomorphize, but spinning stories out of chicken drama and putting thoughts in their heads is part of the fun of owning chickens. So check out those accusatory stares! :lol: SL: "Seriously?" Pullet: "What have you done to Big Mama?"
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UPDATE: Today was the day of the big test. I closed the two bullies (the big Silver Laced Orp hen and the dark pullet) in the run partition, and I let the injured hen (who's mostly healed by now) come out into the main run. The rest of the flock was totally cool with her! She was happy to be back, too. I observed them for a while, and when I was certain she wasn't in immediate danger from these particular chickens, I decided to see what would happen if I let the bullies join as well. They'd been acting very chill through the fence for days, preening themselves right next to her across the fence, so I thought let's give it a try.

Well.

The SL hen went straight for her target and started pecking at her again!!!!! That spiteful b****. The poor victim hen lowered her head and her body language was screaming "I submit, you win!" which is usually enough, but the SL would not let up! I pushed her away, grabbed her and locked her up alone in the partition.

Then the dark pullet came up to the recovering hen. But the hen held her head up high (higher than the pullet, it's like they were out-head-stretching each other!) and did not back down. They stared each other down for a while, and then the pullet raised her hackles and attacked! The hen, however, seeing that it was a one-on-one and not a gang attack like before, handled it all by herself and kicked the pullet's butt until the pullet retreated and went inside the coop! I was SO happy to see her stand up for herself, and win. The pullet is still a pullet, after all, even if assertive and pushing the limits. I "pecked" the pullet on the head after she backed down and started walking away, just to confirm the verdict and make it very clear. I observed some more, but it seemed like things had settled and all was peaceful.

So the plan going forward at this point is to keep the SL bully jailed - in the run partition during the day, and in the crate at night - until further notice. I'll give her second chances periodically, but if she continues attacking, she'll continue living separate. She hasn't laid yet, but is squatting. I'm really hoping she lays soon and gets this PMS bitchiness out of her system, or whatever the hell it is. If it starts to drag out too much, I might crate her in the basement away from the others altogether, until they start to forget her, so I can reset the pecking order and knock her down.

I'm so sad and disappointed... She was always so incredibly sweet, with both humans and with the flock, and I was so proud of her for being the peacekeeper! She was always a fair and just peacekeeper, too. When two chickens would squabble, she'd break them up and peck each on the head (just once) and send them on their way, but she ALWAYS gave the first disciplinary peck to the one who had initiated the squabble. Sigh...

Here she is, in solitary:
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The reintroduced hen, enjoying her non-aggressive friends' company and free access to her former kingdom again:
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Preening and looking content and happy in the main run:
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She's officially back with the flock now, unless I see something sketchy, but I have hope that things are settled at this point.
You said one passed away a couple days ago? I have to wonder if somehow that bird kept some sort of buffer or order with the SLW...
As you know, when a bird submits, that should be the end of it - but your little sycophant pullet might be egging SLW on in her superiority complex climb to domination. Give her enough supervised chances, but it may be you will be rehoming her or trading for another more peaceful bird. SLW fancies herself the alpha hen/substitute rooster, right down to picking up objects, and any good alpha's job is to keep order, not abuse.
 
So how have things been going? Any updates?
I meant to update this thread, sorry I lost track of my threads! I ended up creating a separate thread that was more specific, since I suspected the issue was pecking order related and something to do with proper submissive behavior. Here's the other thread. With a lot of observation and rehabilitation of the problem SLO hen, I was able to identify the problem (or so I think) and restore peace to the flock. Here are my observations. In short, it was an unfortunate gang attack that would've been peacefully resolved one-on-one, between the SLO and the bloodied hen, but the pullets joined in, looking for an easy opportunity to rise in the ranks, and tipped the scales to an impossible 3 against 1 that led to the bloodshed. With SLO temporarily removed, the victim hen put the pullets in their places one-on-one, then submitted properly one-on-one when SLO returned, and we have been enjoying peace and quiet ever since. The flock is back together, no more drama. The end! Conclusion: chickens are a$$holes, even to their own sisters.

Here they are, enjoying some caged lettuce together. The former bloodied victim, center stage, flanked by her two former enemies - the SLO and the dark pullet - hanging out like nothing happened.
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You said one passed away a couple days ago? I have to wonder if somehow that bird kept some sort of buffer or order with the SLW...
The one who passed away was a pullet, meek and submissive unlike the dark opportunistic pullet, I doubt she played a role in this. Here are my conclusions and the drama's resolution. The two remaining pullets have been challenging the social order and pissing SLO off, so she was extra reactive, then they joined in on a dispute that should've been a one-on-one and tipped the scales. With some reshuffling and management, I was able to finally restore peace to the flock (for now). But I have my eye out for more drama, as the pullets are nearing POL.

Give her enough supervised chances, but it may be you will be rehoming her or trading for another more peaceful bird.
She's always been a great peacekeeper until now, and exceptionally calm and friendly with people, so I wanted to give her a chance first. With some work and management on my part, I got things turned around and she's back with the flock now without causing any more problems. Let's hope things stay that way! But even if they don't, now I've seen that these are temporary problems that can be solved, and not a character flaw that would necessitate more drastic measures (like rehoming or culling). Not a universal conclusion in bullying situations, I know, and with other flocks permanently removing the problem bird might be the only viable option, but in this particular case I really think it was a temporary issue with an otherwise peaceful bird, who can be returned to her default after such an incident.

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UPDATE: My hen is spending the night in the basement, in a crate with food and water. I can't risk putting her with the others yet, especially if I can't be there to observe them after they wake up tomorrow morning. Also, it will drop below freezing overnight, and I don't trust that comb of hers in the state it's currently in. I had a hard time stopping the bleeding on one of its points. First I cleaned her up with a warm wet washcloth, then I sprayed the wounds with vetericyn, then I blow-dried her (she was still outside at this point), then I put corn starch on her comb. That one point kept oozing a droplet of blood through the corn starch, so I spent quite some time reapplying, putting pressure, only to have the hen shake her head as soon as I let go, and spray blood everywhere again :( She was extremely cooperative through it all though, even enjoyed the blow dryer! She has a really calm personality in general, I love her. She just quietly sat in my lap while I did things to her. She got a scrambled egg as a reward. I went to check on her again in the basement before lights out, and her comb wasn't oozing as actively as before, though it still had a wet point amidst the snowy peaks of cornstarch. I'm going to put her back in the coop by herself again tomorrow, and lock the flock in the run.

When would it be safe to return her to the flock? When the comb has scabbed over and there's no red showing? When the scabs fall off? How long can she be separated before they stop recognizing her? I have a sectioned off part of my run that I can put her in, actually, so they can all see each other and not forget her. I just need to run some extension cords to get her water (I have a second heated waterer that I can use, as it will be below freezing outside in the next few days).

Here she is, with the coop all to herself today:
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Enjoying the blow dryer:
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And a snuggle:
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In the infirmary:
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The kids gave her some TLC, too:
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So sorry you are going through this, the anxiety about the right thing to do is familiar. In addition to Blue-Koting to get rid of the red from blood you can use a clotting agent in spray form, Medifirst and Walmart blood clotting sprays. Google clotting sprays for your best choice. There are clotting powders but you have to press the powder into the wound for a bit which is not going to be great for her particular wounds. I'm thinking if you clean her up again dry her comb and use the clotting agent fast before bleeding that will produce bigger scabs. If that doesn't work then try the powder. You say she's a docile bird so she may be fine with it. Then when it dries well use Blue-Kote, which also comes in spray form online. Good point about the pecking order change after a flock reduction (death). And just by the way, such a sweet coop photo, my first thought was "Where's the TV?"
 
So sorry you are going through this, the anxiety about the right thing to do is familiar. In addition to Blue-Koting to get rid of the red from blood you can use a clotting agent in spray form, Medifirst and Walmart blood clotting sprays. Google clotting sprays for your best choice. There are clotting powders but you have to press the powder into the wound for a bit which is not going to be great for her particular wounds. I'm thinking if you clean her up again dry her comb and use the clotting agent fast before bleeding that will produce bigger scabs. If that doesn't work then try the powder. You say she's a docile bird so she may be fine with it. Then when it dries well use Blue-Kote, which also comes in spray form online. Good point about the pecking order change after a flock reduction (death). And just by the way, such a sweet coop photo, my first thought was "Where's the TV?"
I didn't realize clotting agents came in the form of a spray, thanks for that information! That sounds convenient.

This whole drama is from several weeks ago though, and is all over now. The hen healed up very well and is back with the flock. I figured out the source of the problem and, with some management and patience, was able to restore peace to the flock. Now they're clucking happily together as if nothing happened.
 

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