Swollen, pale comb

[notherearenttoomany]

We just had a strange situation with this hen. During the day, I keep my two small hens and an injured pullet (recovering from broken/sprained leg) in the coop. The pullet is in a kennel inside the coop, the hens are just contained in the coop at large to keep the rooster from accessing them. The rest of the chickens are out ranging, but also have access to food and water. I put this injured comb pullet in the coop so I can more easily medicate and keep an eye on her. One of my hens immediately attacked and pinned her, repeatedly pecking her head and face. We intervened quickly and my BA is ok. There are some spots from the attack, but in an area I’m already medicating. Obviously, they are now secured and separated.
Question: why would the hen do that? Is she interested in the silver honey, or sensing weakness, or going crazy bc she’s stressed by the rooster? These chickens have been housed together since June. They eat, sleep, drink and range together as a flock. The coop where they are contained is their usual housing so nothing unusual there, and I frequently leave various pullets locked in for part of the day so they can lay. The only change is the addition of the medication. Thoughts?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Is it an adult hen?
Pullet coming into her territory possibly. Could be the ointment or the swelling or both made her look different.

 

[notherearenttoomany]

Is it an adult hen?
Pullet coming into her territory possibly. Could be the ointment or the swelling or both made her look different.

She is a mature adult, hasn’t been laying for a few months now. She has been declining in the last few weeks, presumably due to the stress of the cockerel coming into maturity—staying on the roost around the clock unless I take her down manually. I’ve been keeping her separated from him so she’ll relax to eat/drink, but still having to take her down off the roost to do so. Yesterday, after she attacked the injured comb pullet, I kept her isolated for a while and then let her out with the entire healthy flock for a few mins before sundown. Thankfully we stayed close by bc she chased down and attacked another pullet, then tried to attack a third. We don’t have a way to keep so many chickens separated and I have two with injuries needing closer care, so we made the decision to cull the declining, suddenly violent hen. I don’t have enough experience to understand senior chickens or what causes sudden behavior changes, but I do know I don’t have capacity to nurse a bunch of beat up chickens if I can avoid it.

Love the chickens—lots to learn!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Can you post some photos of housing/roosts, etc.?
Having some with injuries, one that is not coming out of the coop, etc. sounds like a lot of drama going on.
I get it. Mine like drama too - seriously they do. Sometimes moving the cockerel is all that's needed. That's generally the easiest since boys are more easily re-introduced/integrated into a flock than girls.
He's young and full of hormones - a cockerel can really ruffle older hens and stress out pullets.
You're older hen may be beginning to molt, they can be quite touchy during this time but if she's in decline, I would make sure she's got a place to eat/drink. She's avoiding the cockerel (it sounds like) but the pullets are not welcome either (this is common)

 

[notherearenttoomany]

Can you post some photos of housing/roosts, etc.?
Having some with injuries, one that is not coming out of the coop, etc. sounds like a lot of drama going on.
I get it. Mine like drama too - seriously they do. Sometimes moving the cockerel is all that's needed. That's generally the easiest since boys are more easily re-introduced/integrated into a flock than girls.
He's young and full of hormones - a cockerel can really ruffle older hens and stress out pullets.
You're older hen may be beginning to molt, they can be quite touchy during this time but if she's in decline, I would make sure she's got a place to eat/drink. She's avoiding the cockerel (it sounds like) but the pullets are not welcome either (this is common)

This is great info, thank you for taking the time to share your wisdom and experience. I’ll get some pics later when I get home. Question: you suggest “moving the cockerel”...what do you mean by that? Do you suggest that I separate the cockerel from the flock? I’m not sure how I’d go about doing that—during the day, I use a dog kennel to separate chickens as needed, but they all sleep in the coop.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

This is great info, thank you for taking the time to share your wisdom and experience. I’ll get some pics later when I get home. Question: you suggest “moving the cockerel”...what do you mean by that? Do you suggest that I separate the cockerel from the flock? I’m not sure how I’d go about doing that—during the day, I use a dog kennel to separate chickens as needed, but they all sleep in the coop.

I would house him separately until he's older.
I know that may be hard to do if you don't have a place to put him, but if he's causing some disruptions/stress, then separation is a good idea.
Mind you, it's not about punishing him - he's just young and needs more maturity - the girls are not accepting him.