There's something weird about Ivy (turken pullet)

[gritsar]

I remember reading on BYC about someone have this same issue with a pullet, but I can't find the thread.

Ivy is a 24 week old turken (naked neck) pullet. Ivy is definitely a she. There is not a pointed saddle feather or hackle (what would be a turkens hackles) feather to be found. She looks identical to my other turken pullets; except that her comb is larger and redder. She's looked ready to lay for about a month now, but she hasn't. Also, I have a turken cockerel, so the differences between a male and female turken are easy for me to see.

At first I thought Ivy was just going to be a loner (I have a loner in my adult flock too) because she often goes off by herself, does her own thing, instead of staying with the flock. Lately though she's been staying and interacting with her flock more.

I have yet to see my cockerel attempt to mate Ivy. Yesterday my cockerel was mating another pullet and Ivy ran up and started pecking the pullet while she was getting mated.

Why would one pullet do that to another?

Here's Ivy:

 

[Jajika]

Jealous?

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
I considered that, but I get the feeling it goes deeper than that.

 

[peepacheep]

I have a BA hen that is attacked by the other hens when the rooster mates with her. It's brutal. She had been the dominate hen of the 11 month old flock until last March. I found her bloodied and cowering under the roost one morning. Something happened with the flock's dynamics. Separated her while she healed then started slowly introducing her back and tried everything I can think of, neutral territory, with hens only, with the rooster only, adjoining pens, raising 3 SS pullets with her and introducing the foursome. The pullets joined the flock easily, not so for the BA. After 5 months of supervising her time in the pen, breaking up attacks from the others, it was just too much. This particular afternoon I saw the rooster mate with her twice, the third time he got on her back and started hammering the back of her head, the hens piled on attacking her. Got her out of there and decided that was it. For some reason the flock does not want her to live with them. She now roost separately in the coop's entrance and has an adjoining pen with one other hen. I have not seen any of the other hens attack the others when they are mating and have no idea why the flock turned deadly to this one hen. I think their social structure is quite complex and so interesting to watch, and some things so unexplainable. Hope things sort out with Ivy, she is a beauty!

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Thanks for the input.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Weird. Most roosters don't allow fighting among the hens.

I once was holding a rooster down to show him his place after he wing danced at me and a hen came over and bit me trying to protect him. I also have a different pullet that thinks she's a rooster, she'll by my crowing hen for sure. When I go into the run she does the start of the wing dance at me, the sideways stance with one wing higher than the other. Oh and she's flogged me once also. I felt a bump against the back of my leg, and there she was - nobody else around. And yes, I'm positive she's a girl. The more chickens I have, the more strange behavior I witness. Silly creatures.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
So true.