Sweet Buff Orpington becomes a mama... now she's a bully!

[SoCalClucker]

Our BO was a sweet, mellow, calm hen, probably bottom of the pecking order but our flock was calm and settled so you wouldn't really know it. Those days are gone... now that she's had babies (hatched one chick and adopted 4 one-day-olds), she's a different hen altogether. When the chicks were very small, I expected her to be very protective of them, and of course was grateful she was so diligent in watching over them. But they are almost 8 weeks old now, the other hens don't really mess with them, and she is really taking the "lioness" act to a new level. One of our Cuckoo Marans is perpetually half-bald on her back and a patch on one wing from her constant pecking and chasing her off, even though she is quite submissive; our Australorp looks like she's been spending too much time with a rooster, as she assumes the mating position when the BO gets aggro on her and ends up with pretty raggedy feathers on her back too. I'm constantly dabbing their bare patches with the blue stuff, but it doesn't really help. We have 2 Easter Eggers and a second Cuckoo Maran that don't get abused the same way; she's definitely picking on these two for some reason.

Will this behavior naturally fade as the chicks get older, or is my BO just enjoying the powertrip, now that she's had a taste of it? Anything I can do? Will something like smearing Vaseline on the victims' bare spots discourage it?

 

[Abriana]

That's weird that after the chicks are older that she would be acting like this. Is it possible that a predator may have attempted to get one of them and the hen now wants everything and everyone away from her babies?
Put the mama and her babies in a run for a while-until the hen is finished with the chicks or until she lays an egg. This will let the feathers on the other hens grow back and give everyone a break.

 

[SoCalClucker]

Oh I forgot to mention, when she first hatched her chick/adopted the day-olds, they were in their own run inside the main run. They were locked in there for just 3 or 4 days, and then we re-integrated them, and everything went fine. When they started roosting with the other hens and not sleeping on the ground under Mama anymore, we took the little run away. Mama is actually now laying again! All signs say she should be "over" the protective Mama phase and going back to being the mellow sweetie she was, but she's still playing Playground Bully... :-(

 

[lazy gardener]

How big is your coop and run? What are the dimensions, and how many birds?

 

[aart]

or is my BO just enjoying the powertrip, now that she's had a taste of it?

Yes. This happened with the one broody I allowed to hatch.

 

[SoCalClucker]

How big is your coop and run? What are the dimensions, and how many birds?

I don't know exactly, as it was all built in place and designed to maximize the space we had... if I had to guess, I'd say it was probably a 150-200 sq ft run, with 1/2 being sand and 1/2 being a "playbox" filled with alfalfa hay and occasional kitchen scraps. Rather than a traditional enclosed coop, we enclosed one part of the run and put in 2 roosting bars that are about 5 feet long each and at slightly different levels. Right now we have the 6 grown hens, and 5 chicks that are almost 8 weeks old so starting not to look like chicks anymore. The plan is that when the chicks are another month or two older, a few of the grown hens that have really slacked off on their laying will be rehomed to give everyone a bit more elbow room. Since we do have coyotes that come through, we can't do much free-ranging unless we are right there to supervise, so we try to keep the run from being too crowded.

 

[SoCalClucker]

Yes. This happened with the one broody I allowed to hatch.

Were you able to do anything to address the situation, or did the broody treat her new subordinates with more kindness than mine is?

 

[chickens really]

Pecking order changes when Hens are allowed to raise Chicks...No one messes with Momma...She has weaned her Chicks weeks ago and now is more aggressive....Put her in a look no touch pen for a couple of weeks to knock her down in the Pecking order..
Best wishes.....

 

[aart]

I don't know exactly, as it was all built in place and designed to maximize the space we had

Got a tape measure?

Yes. This happened with the one broody I allowed to hatch.

Were you able to do anything to address the situation, or did the broody treat her new subordinates with more kindness than mine is?

I didn't do anything about it, other than break up 3 nasty comb hanging fights over the main feeder when she first came into the flock. After that it was fine other than she definitely relished her new higher than before brooding status. I have lots of space and so it really wasn't a problem, the pecked could get far away. She was bossy and pecky but not chase and pin them down in the corner to beat them mercilessly aggressive.