They attack on her Que..

[Euphillia]

I have 3, 2 year old hens(two BR and an EE). I lost a hen early this spring to egg binding so decided to replace her with 2 new chicks. Those chicks are now 15 weeks old(buff orphingtons). They have been housed in a large dog kennel in the yard and free ranging with the other hens for a number of weeks now, but no one is getting along well just yet.

I suspect the culprit is the ring leader of my bunch who will regularly charge and attack the younger ones. I know they will need to establish a pecking order, but she is drawing blood.

I was thinking about putting the younger birds in over nite but have pulled the bossy bird during the day and give them time to adjust before reintroducing her since the other 2 never attack first. Only when she does and often their attacks are half hearted and short lived.

I've searched and read on the subject and this seems like its worth a go.

Thoughts?

Christine

 

[misslys15]

I've had a similar problem. We spray the ring leader with a water mister whenever she picks on the pullets. My Barred Rock joins in sometimes, but my Golden Laced Wyandotte is definitely the leader. One of my younger girls just started laying, and she seems to be able to fend for herself a bit better now. I've read that taking out the mean chicken for a week or so will knock her down a few pegs. Then when you put her back in with the flock, she'll be at the bottom of the pecking order and have to reestablish herself. Mine has never bloodied any of the pullets, just ripped out feathers, so I haven't tried it. But I do try to keep them together but separated as much as possible. When I give treats, I sprinkle them all over so the pullets get a chance to eat without the hens pushing them out and snatching food out from underneath them. I have food and water in several different areas, so if my Wyandotte is at one of them, the pullets can feed at the other station. Make sure they have enough room in the coop to spread out a bit, so the pullets can sleep on the other side of the coop, hopefully undisturbed. My pullets have been outside with the hens during the day under supervision since they were about 4 weeks old, and outside all the time with them at about 8 weeks old (they are now 16 weeks old). They still fight a bit, but it's gotten much better. Make sure you cover the bloodied pullet with something like blu kote so the hens aren't attracted to the blood and peck her more. You might also want to put chicken saddles on them to better protect them from attacks. Chicken saddles are usually used to help with feather loss from roosters mounting hens, but I think it might help here too.

Separating the ring leader is definitely worth a go. Good luck!

 

[carolinasculpture]

We had some trouble with this until we got a rooster. He makes sure the girls don't fight and is protective of the new pullets each year as well. But, obviously that won't work for right now. Can you put the ring leader in solitary, but where she can see everyone and they can see her? Like in a large dog crate? Maybe put everyone in the coop at night and then put the ring leader in after dark so at least she won't cause any trouble until morning? Make sure there are plenty of feeders and waterers and hiding places. Good luck!