Teaching a mean hen some manners?

[Firefoot]

Hey all,

I have three hens coming into their three year-old year -- a Barred Rock, a RIR, and a SLW. I've had them since 15 weeks and had just the three of them (with a couple roosters at different times) until last June when I got some young pullets. Of the three older girls, the order goes RIR at top, SLW, BR. The BR is super derpy and the other two girls never really seemed to care about her. When I had a roo for a time, the BR was the most submissive and therefore targeted. She is definitely lowest in the pecking order of those 3 original birds.

I integrated the new birds (6 pullets and a roo, tho 3 pullets have left me) very very slowly -- probably over about 2-3 months. They shared a fenceline starting in June and they didn't start sharing a coop until mid- or late-October. The younger birds at this time were about 24-32 weeks old. They met while free-ranging before then and returned to their respective coops.

The RIR and SLW are certainly still bosses (even over the young EE roo, who is actually a little smaller than the RIR!) but the BR is drunk with power over these 3 pullets (two Ameraucanas and an EE). She is a total dick. She targets them and chases them away, pecks them in the face, and moves them around during roosting. I thought the younger birds were losing back feathers from the roo, who has really been pretty nice as far as I've seen, but I think it might actually be the BR. I put saddles on them, especially after one lost feathers from a hawk, and the past few days I've noticed the BR grabs the saddle, pins the pullet, and stands on her for a minute. Of course there is scrabbling around because the pullet does not want to be pinned down. The roo has mounted the BR several times that I've seen, but I'm sure he gets the younger birds more often.

I have tried the whole picking her up and carrying her around repeatedly thing and it does nothing. I pick her up, carry her around during chores, put her down and make her stay still on the ground in front of everyone, and even tho the roo comes over to inspect and gets excited like he might jump her, she is up and pecking away as her usual bitch self within moments. It isn't to the point that I see her keeping anyone away from food or water, and everyone is able to roost at night, but she is a real asshole and the young birds hate her. Tbh, I'm kind of hating her at the moment, too.

She was especially mean this morning and is now in a crate in the garage but I think it's going to be too cold to keep her in there for more than a day or two. What else can I do? At this point, they've been together for months ... how long does it usually take for them to settle in or will she be drunk with power forever now? When do you decide to cull one for the peace of the flock?

 

[birdlover2]

It seems like she is doing this because she was always the lowest in the three and now she isn't. She may be doing this specifically to try and establish her power over the younger birds so she won't be the lowest again, or maybe she is being plain mean because she was the lowest order. Another possibility is that she could be a roo? In which case she would have henny feathering. But if she hasn't mounted the older ones before that is less likely. If they are a roo it could be because of the other roo she is acting the way she is. Otherwise she is mounting the hens to show dominance over them. Have you had her sex checked?

 

[Firefoot]

It seems like she is doing this because she was always the lowest in the three and now she isn't. She may be doing this specifically to try and establish her power over the younger birds so she won't be the lowest again, or maybe she is being plain mean because she was the lowest order. Another possibility is that she could be a roo? In which case she would have henny feathering. But if she hasn't mounted the older ones before that is less likely. If they are a roo it could be because of the other roo she is acting the way she is. Otherwise she is mounting the hens to show dominance over them. Have you had her sex checked?

I've never had her sex checked but she's always laid eggs and during times of having a roo they've been fertilized. What does hennie feathering look like on a BR?

I agree that this is her finally having power over other birds since being the lowest for so long and the standing on the pullets is to establish dominance ... is there a way to fix this? She's such a dick.

 

[birdlover2]

I'm unsure what it looks like exactly in BR, but if they do have it their feathering should look about like a hen even if they're a roo. As for the hen, if putting her outside of the equation for a few days doesn't work, and it's been more then enough time for pecking order to have established itself, it may be best to cull her. She may do better in someone elses flock or alone, so I suggest rehoming her. You could try seperating your flock into two, but that would be a lot more work. Another option could be to get rid of the new pullets, but that is not really a good option because it's better to get rid of one hen other than many.

 

[Shadrach]

Hey all,

I have three hens coming into their three year-old year -- a Barred Rock, a RIR, and a SLW. I've had them since 15 weeks and had just the three of them (with a couple roosters at different times) until last June when I got some young pullets. Of the three older girls, the order goes RIR at top, SLW, BR. The BR is super derpy and the other two girls never really seemed to care about her. When I had a roo for a time, the BR was the most submissive and therefore targeted. She is definitely lowest in the pecking order of those 3 original birds.

I integrated the new birds (6 pullets and a roo, tho 3 pullets have left me) very very slowly -- probably over about 2-3 months. They shared a fenceline starting in June and they didn't start sharing a coop until mid- or late-October. The younger birds at this time were about 24-32 weeks old. They met while free-ranging before then and returned to their respective coops.

The RIR and SLW are certainly still bosses (even over the young EE roo, who is actually a little smaller than the RIR!) but the BR is drunk with power over these 3 pullets (two Ameraucanas and an EE). She is a total dick. She targets them and chases them away, pecks them in the face, and moves them around during roosting. I thought the younger birds were losing back feathers from the roo, who has really been pretty nice as far as I've seen, but I think it might actually be the BR. I put saddles on them, especially after one lost feathers from a hawk, and the past few days I've noticed the BR grabs the saddle, pins the pullet, and stands on her for a minute. Of course there is scrabbling around because the pullet does not want to be pinned down. The roo has mounted the BR several times that I've seen, but I'm sure he gets the younger birds more often.

I have tried the whole picking her up and carrying her around repeatedly thing and it does nothing. I pick her up, carry her around during chores, put her down and make her stay still on the ground in front of everyone, and even tho the roo comes over to inspect and gets excited like he might jump her, she is up and pecking away as her usual bitch self within moments. It isn't to the point that I see her keeping anyone away from food or water, and everyone is able to roost at night, but she is a real asshole and the young birds hate her. Tbh, I'm kind of hating her at the moment, too.

She was especially mean this morning and is now in a crate in the garage but I think it's going to be too cold to keep her in there for more than a day or two. What else can I do? At this point, they've been together for months ... how long does it usually take for them to settle in or will she be drunk with power forever now? When do you decide to cull one for the peace of the flock?

There are far too many nice hens to be putting up with an aggressive bully. Invite her for dinner.....................wait, did I just write that.

Hen politics. best left alone. If she's not drawing blood and everybody is eating then hate her from a distance.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I've never had her sex checked but she's always laid eggs and during times of having a roo they've been fertilized. What does hennie feathering look like on a BR?

I agree that this is her finally having power over other birds since being the lowest for so long and the standing on the pullets is to establish dominance ... is there a way to fix this? She's such a dick.

Unfortunately there's not much you can do. I would make sure your area is big enough, and as roomy as possible. Make sure there's places for the young ones to escape to. Multiple feeding stations and breaking up line of sight can help. The saddle probably made the one a bigger target.

You could try removing the bossy hen for a few days to shuffle up her place in the pecking order, but for what I've read that is only temporary.

Currently as daylight increases hormones are surging in chickens so behaviors Wil ramp up a bit at this time of year. Hopefully it all calms down after a bit.

 

[Firefoot]

There are far too many nice hens to be putting up with an aggressive bully. Invite her for dinner.....................wait, did I just write that.

Hen politics. best left alone. If she's not drawing blood and everybody is eating then hate her from a distance.

Hahaha I told my husband last night, "You know I love all of our chickens equally, but ... if something happened to Madeleine, maybe it would be for the best ..."

Unfortunately there's not much you can do. I would make sure your area is big enough, and as roomy as possible. Make sure there's places for the young ones to escape to. Multiple feeding stations and breaking up line of sight can help. The saddle probably made the one a bigger target.

You could try removing the bossy hen for a few days to shuffle up her place in the pecking order, but for what I've read that is only temporary.

Currently as daylight increases hormones are surging in chickens so behaviors Wil ramp up a bit at this time of year. Hopefully it all calms down after a bit.

Yes there are multiple feeders and waterers and TONS of stuff in the run to hide in/under/on/behind because :sigh: this has been going on for a while.

And yes the saddles made them easier to catch Oops. Taking them off tonight. I actually think that's the only way I would've known what she was doing. I hear them scuffle and stuff but Madeleine grabbing the saddle made the whole act take longer and that's how I caught it.

I hadn't thought of spring hormones but that makes sense. She is separated for now and I'll see how long that can last. I don't expect perfect peace and order, especially as the Ameraucanas are more timid in general, but she is mean as a snake.

 

[Shadrach]

I've got a really mean one here atm. She hates her mum most but manages to hate everyone else when she's not trying to make her mums life a misery. (I've multiple coops and tribes) I closed up Fray (the mean hen) with Gedit (top hen in her tribe) and Fray's mum one night. When I opened up in the morning Fray stumbled out, her comb all bloody, wattles ripped, chunks of feather missing from her head; poor thing was a terrible mess.
Mum came out next. She's white, except she wasn't this morning, more pink with blood spatters all over her face and chest. Mum moved out the next night to another coop with her other daughters who worship her.
I cleaned Fray up and while she'll never be a pleasant hen she's a lot more careful about where she throws her weight.

 

[Keeperofmunchkins]

Hens can be mean as heck sometimes. I have a hen who is the top of the pecking order who used to bully her 'underlings' so bad I had to rehome a couple. This went on for two years and then I built new fences and started letting my chickens free range all day instead of being in the run most of the day. Since then her behaviour has toned down so much and there is so much less squabbling. When chickens are being ornery with each other there really is only one solution and that is to give them more space from each other... Sometimes as much space as one of them living elsewhere!

However I will say that it can take a very long time for new birds to be fully accepted into the flock by all previous members. Ive had new chickens who have taken a year to stop being targeted as the newby.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I’m not sure much can be done especially since EEs and Ams are generally very timid birds and don’t really fight back you could maybe introduce a few more of some tougher breeds that would stand her ground to her but that could make it worse too. Also, the roos usually help to keep the peace and break things up so it is somewhat odd that one hasn’t but he might just need more time to mature and hopefully he will eventually.