Sudden aggression after laying resumes

[K0k0shka]

This might be the reason for their readiness to attack. Any change (addition, subtraction, begin of lay etc.) leads to a change in the pecking order and opens possibilities for former subs to ascend.

When these things happen, I found it helpful to colour the combs of several other hens using BlueKote as well. So the injured wiil not stick out any longer.

Yeah, probably a hierarchy reshuffling, worsened by the sight of blood. One of the most relentless attackers was one of the pullets, who ranks lower than the victim. Maybe she saw an opportunity. What surprised (and disappointed) me more though, was that the most relentless attacker of all was my "peacekeeper" - the largest hen, who is known for breaking up fights and making sure everybody gets along. She ranks higher than the victim, too, so no need to climb any ladders. I did not expect that of her.

 

[aart]

Whoa...... Brutal!

 

[K0k0shka]

Whoa...... Brutal!

Right? I know that chickens are brutal, so this isn't completely out of the ordinary in general, but it's extremely out of character for my flock, and for the two who did most of the damage... So I'm stumped, sad, angry and concerned.

 

[LaFleche]

Right? I know that chickens are brutal, so this isn't completely out of the ordinary in general, but it's extremely out of character for my flock, and for the two who did most of the damage... So I'm stumped, sad, angry and concerned.

You could separate the two fierce aggressors for a few days.

 

[K0k0shka]

You could separate the two fierce aggressors for a few days.

Yeah, that's among the options I've been weighing... The others seem to pile on once the two instigators start, but if they're separated, maybe the others will mind their own business.

 

[K0k0shka]

UPDATE: The comb has scabbed over and there's no more bleeding, finally, though there are still some tender-looking areas. In the morning I put the hen in the coop by herself with food and a heated waterer, and locked the flock in the run with food and another heated waterer. In the afternoon, about an hour or two before bedtime, I moved her to the sectioned off part of the run, so the flock could see her. I went into the enclosure with her, for moral support (she looked nervous to be near the flock). The two bullies came at her right away, and tried to get her through the fence!!! And there's nothing red on her at the moment at all, to be triggering them! Other than a few scabs, nothing is different about her. WTF? She looked traumatized and kept hiding behind me. I stepped to the side a few times to see if that's what she was doing, and sure enough, she followed me around and kept putting herself immediately behind me, only occasionally poking her head around the side or stepping to the side to look at the flock, then going back behind me. Poor thing. I sat there for a while, as she seemed comforted by my presence. I sat until the other chickens lost interest and returned to the center of the run to scratch around. After I came out of the enclosure and closed the gate, the victim hen tried to follow me and paced back and forth along the fence, so the bullies came back and resumed trying to get to her, pecking through the chicken wire holes! The large (former) "peacekeeper" hen is the main instigator, with one of the pullets joining in and copying her. The rest mostly mind their own business or show interest but without pecking. So I spent quite some time by the fence pushing the main bully away from it yelling "NO!" at her whenever she tried to intimidate/attack. She was showing a behavior I've only seen in roosters - where they try to intimidate you by keeping their heads low to the ground and pretending to be picking things up from the ground, like random sticks and leaves. The pullet wasn't doing that, only the large hen was. She also kept vocalizing with her threatening voice. We did this back and forth for quite some time. I picked her up and carried her around for a while, and put her down far away from her victim. She kept coming back for quite some time! Eventually she lost interest and returned to minding her business. I have left them at that, and will go and collect the victim in a little bit to put her to bed in the basement again.

This is all so very odd! This hen has never shown such aggressive behavior before, and never done the "picking things up from the ground" intimidation move before. She wasn't close with the pullet who died last week, and she wasn't particularly bossy up until now. She was a gentle giant who kept the peace. What's her problem?!? I'm considering putting her in the run partition tomorrow, with the injured hen in the coop, and the flock in the main run section. She may need some solitary confinement to cool off. Then I may try to put the injured hen in the main run with the others in the afternoon, and observe. If the others are cool with her, then maybe I just keep big booty isolated instead of her victim. Or if any others show aggression, they go to jail with her, until there's only peaceful hens left with the victim.

Here she is this morning, with all her scabs:

The bullies, looking on (the pullet is the one on the right):

Poor fluff hiding behind me:

The whole setup:

 

[K0k0shka]

I'm going to keep updating this thread, in case it helps somebody in a similar situation. Especially if this gets resolved.

After yesterday's standoff through the fence, I put a visual barrier to give the bullied hen somewhere to hide. I had leftover faux ivy from when I was pimping out the back wall of their run, so I put a sheet of that across the middle divider. It really helped! The hen would hide behind it when she saw the others approaching, and would peek out and retreat as needed. Giving her more control of the situation seemed to help. What also helped was that the main bully seemed a lot more chill today. She didn't go for the kill right away. She did attempt to peck a few times, but I didn't observe any more of the menacing behavior or vocalization. She was also surprisingly and GREATLY distracted by the faux ivy! She'd move in to peck her victim, the victim would duck behind the ivy, and the bully would be like "ooh what's that?" and investigate the ivy. Rinse and repeat countless times. Good thing chickens are so stupid and easily distracted! The ivy really threw her off her game, in a hilarious way! If the victim didn't come out of hiding, the bully would just occupy herself with the ivy for some time, pecking at it or scratching at it (but not in a way like she's trying to get past it and at the other hen, but like she's investigating something intriguing).

One new thing I observed today is that the main bully has started squatting again! She wasn't doing that yesterday. She hasn't laid yet since her winter break, but her face gear has really been reddening lately, and now with the squat, I wonder if all this bitchiness is because she's having pre-laying PMS


Here's poor baby peeking out from behind her cover:

And enjoying the dust bath all to herself, since it's on her side of the divide:

 

[Auntiejessi3]

pimping out the back wall of their run

Perfect, love the verbiage!

 

[aart]

One new thing I observed today is that the main bully has started squatting again!

So could be a case of severe PMS?

 

[K0k0shka]

So could be a case of severe PMS?

That’s what I’m hoping, because if so, then it would be temporary. PMS is a novel concept for me as I have no personal human experience with it, but I’ve heard stories. It would be hilarious if I had a hen with PMS! Then I’d have stories to tell, too