very aggressive hens not calming down about chicks, help?

[Kel60]

So we put the chicks out (7was old) in a separated part of the coup so that our very outraged ladies could get used to the concept of them.

It's been 2 weeks now and one chicken, star, is still just incoherent with rage at the concept of them. She charges the pen fluffs and screams at them till they cower. If allowed in the same space will attack and body slam and bite them.

The other chicken (we have 2 other then the 3 chicks) is also aggressive but what I feel is a bit more normal agression? She wont sprint over and try to murder them but they still get a solid peck and a screech if they make the mistake of going anywhere near her.

I wouldnt trust either of them with the babies, whether supervised or unsupervised.
At this point I'm worried I'll have to give star at least to my aunt for her big flock, rust I think may calm down but its unbelievable how violent They are about the chicks!

Is there anything that can be done to calm the big girls down? Is there something in particular their hating about the babies?

I want everyone to get along! At the very least without the murder star seems intent on!

(Also star and rust get along ok with each other, rust is definitely boss. We did lose our third chicken over the winter and I'm pretty sure princess was the boss originally. This was months ago however)

 

[azygous]

When incoherent rage is the behavior problem, it's wise to keep that chicken away from small chicks, at least for the time being until the chicks get a bit more sophisticated about evading the aggressive adults.

Have you had the chicks in the run yet? Or do your chickens spend all their time in the coop? It helps to have the chicks spend the day time where most of the activity occurs so they and the adults can observe one another and learn from it.

Next, you need to provide escape routes for the chicks once they start mingling with the adults so they can't get boxed into a corner with no escape. Perches at varying heights are a big help. I had two groups of different aged chicks one year and I put an old camp table in the run so the older chicks could jump up there and eat and drink in safety. They liked to nap up there, as well.

An old chair or other furniture provides things to run behind or hop up on when a chick is evading an aggressive adult.

 

[Kel60]

This is a view from inside the divided run. The babies sleep under the main coup and have a mini run inside the big one. Star spends most of her time at that gate running back and forth and clucking in rage.
Star is the black one. Babies are under the camera in pic. Cant really see them.

This is where they've been for two weeks. We put a board up sometimes to give the kids a break from stars homicidal clucking.

So they've all been able to see each other this entire time. And star is just not calming down. Youd think she'd get board with it at least.

 

[azygous]

Star may be trying to tell you something that isn't obvious to you. It may not be directly connected to the chicks. Could she want access to that portion of the coop? Has she nested there in the past? A hen can get pretty lathered up when she wants to lay an egg and her favorite spot is blocked off.

I would let her into that area after you've taken measures to prevent her from accessing the chicks (corral the chicks temporarily) and see what she's after. If she focuses on the chicks rather than something else, then you'll have verified she's a danger to the chicks.

 

[Kel60]

Star may be trying to tell you something that isn't obvious to you. It may not be directly connected to the chicks. Could she want access to that portion of the coop? Has she nested there in the past? A hen can get pretty lathered up when she wants to lay an egg and her favorite spot is blocked off.

I would let her into that area after you've taken measures to prevent her from accessing the chicks (corral the chicks temporarily) and see what she's after. If she focuses on the chicks rather than something else, then you'll have verified she's a danger to the chicks.

I tested this. Took the kiddos out and she completely ignored the space. Just went and stuffed her face. I picked her up and brought her over to it. Put her IN it and she just wanted out to eat. Put babies back and rage mode reactivated.
Upside is that I'm noticing some behavior out of rust that seems to be her trying to discourage star from doing this. Not that it seems to be WORKING but... she'll put herself bettween star and the babies fence and follow her back and forth blocking her. She doesnt peck star or really yell at her and you can tell her attention is on star when she does it, shes not just joining in on the fun.

I'm suppose star is maybe feeling threatened by them? She is minorly disabled, shes partly blind in one eye after a bad infection she had last year. But she makes no effort in particular to keep the good eye on them when shes throwing her fits.

Now I'm not sure how much of a PTSD thing a chicken could have but when star and rust were little maybe 10 to 12 weeks they did get the absolute shit kicked out of them by my then oldest chicken. That chicken had to go back to my aunt because she was going to kill them. Much like what's happening here. But I kinda doubt star can really remember that and conceptualize "someone hurt me I should hurt these ones" the silver wyandotta DOES kinda look like that old chicken but she seems to hate them all equally and the others are solid grey. No resemblance so.......



.... I think she may just be a bitch

 

[azygous]

Thanks for doing that experiment. Yeah, she's just a bitch. She may not recall being shoved around when she was small, but it is very common for young adult chickens to be more apt to bully chicks. Chickens do have memories, but it's hard to tell what they remember.

I have baby chicks and pullets that are just turning one year old, and a couple nine-month olds, and I believe this is the first time I can recall not having any of these youngsters bully the chicks. It's just always seemed to go with the territory.

Just as there are psychopathic humans, there are some chickens that are just mean. If you can get the babies grown to full size, they ought to be able to handle this hen as long as they don't have neurotically timid temperaments.

 

[Tonyroo]

You'll need to deal with the situation and leave it as is till the chicks are close to the size of your crazy hen. The pecking order will change eventually. And there will be some peace in the flock.

 

[thegreenestacre]

We had this happen with this year's chicks. One of our Golden Comets, Buffy, went completely bezerk over the chicks (she's normally the most docile hen in the flock). The problem still isn't solved - she acts the same way your Star does...sprinting murderously towards the chicks, especially when they try to get on the roost. I created a lot of safety areas in the coop (putting out cardboard boxes with small holes cut out so the chicks can escape) and I put Buffy in a dog crate at night to keep her from killing the little ones after I shut them up.

 

[Ponypoor]

I tested this. Took the kiddos out and she completely ignored the space. Just went and stuffed her face. I picked her up and brought her over to it. Put her IN it and she just wanted out to eat. Put babies back and rage mode reactivated.
Upside is that I'm noticing some behavior out of rust that seems to be her trying to discourage star from doing this. Not that it seems to be WORKING but... she'll put herself bettween star and the babies fence and follow her back and forth blocking her. She doesnt peck star or really yell at her and you can tell her attention is on star when she does it, shes not just joining in on the fun.

I'm suppose star is maybe feeling threatened by them? She is minorly disabled, shes partly blind in one eye after a bad infection she had last year. But she makes no effort in particular to keep the good eye on them when shes throwing her fits.

Now I'm not sure how much of a PTSD thing a chicken could have but when star and rust were little maybe 10 to 12 weeks they did get the absolute shit kicked out of them by my then oldest chicken. That chicken had to go back to my aunt because she was going to kill them. Much like what's happening here. But I kinda doubt star can really remember that and conceptualize "someone hurt me I should hurt these ones" the silver wyandotta DOES kinda look like that old chicken but she seems to hate them all equally and the others are solid grey. No resemblance so.......



.... I think she may just be a bitch

Any update on this ? I am curious to know how things turned out. I feel blessed to not have had any drama with my integrated flocks!

 

[badboyk1n9]

So we put the chicks out (7was old) in a separated part of the coup so that our very outraged ladies could get used to the concept of them.

It's been 2 weeks now and one chicken, star, is still just incoherent with rage at the concept of them. She charges the pen fluffs and screams at them till they cower. If allowed in the same space will attack and body slam and bite them.

The other chicken (we have 2 other then the 3 chicks) is also aggressive but what I feel is a bit more normal agression? She wont sprint over and try to murder them but they still get a solid peck and a screech if they make the mistake of going anywhere near her.

I wouldnt trust either of them with the babies, whether supervised or unsupervised.
At this point I'm worried I'll have to give star at least to my aunt for her big flock, rust I think may calm down but its unbelievable how violent They are about the chicks!

Is there anything that can be done to calm the big girls down? Is there something in particular their hating about the babies?

I want everyone to get along! At the very least without the murder star seems intent on!

(Also star and rust get along ok with each other, rust is definitely boss. We did lose our third chicken over the winter and I'm pretty sure princess was the boss originally. This was months ago however)

Don't worry! , it's not normal, The hens according to my experience are Aseel or RIR, from the form of aggresion shown,
If the two adult chicken are together from the birth, forget about adding chicks to the flock.. they will be aggresive and try to protect there flock from those wretched monsters.. I would like you to not to continue anymore or sooner or later your chicks will be dead, just let the chicks have there own space for 1-2 months more or so, until they are adult.