Vicious 1 year olds

[JJN]

I have been raising my tiny flock of 3 for 1 year now. In March of 2022 I got 3 pullets, each of a different breed, as I sought a diverse little flock. I researched size, weather hardiness, average temperament, etc. All is very well until about 3 weeks ago I noticed one hen has what looked like scabbing on her comb. It has been rainy and muddy here so I thought she was just messy. But this afternoon my son and I went out to let our 3 out of the run to free range in the yard as we do every day and my Plymouth Rock was torn up! Half her head and neck were bald, bloody in a few spots and covered in mud. We were in shock and let them all wander while we filled food tubes, freshened water and went to check the egg boxes. Same time we heard screeching and turned to find our other 2 both on top of our Plymouth Rock holding her down and just pecking her like crazy. We ran to them and out of shock I just kicked them off and picked her up. We put her back in the run and set up a recovery cell in a dog crate. I have read some things about how to dominate aggressive hens but I'm still in shock. I have no idea what made the 2 suddenly turn so violent on the 1? They have been together their whole lives, same coop, house, run. They range for hours every day. We have 3 feeding stations and 2 water spots. There are 2 nesting boxes and 2 roosts. We have been told we could house double the hens in our confined space alone so they didn't seem over crowded. I thought I would post somewhere because nobody else I know with chickens says they have ever heard anything quite that violent come out of nowhere?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Just because birds have been raised together doesn't mean they'll get along for life.

Has anything changed lately, like feed, schedule/routine, bird went broody, etc?

Any photos of your set up? How long do they free range every day?

 

[SourRoses]

Some breeds can have more aggressive hens, such as RIR.
Once birds see a little bit of blood it's only the docile breeds / individuals that will ignore it. Most like to peck at it.
Still, that does sound like an unusually aggressive attack.
What rosemarythyme asked could provide some helpful insight. Any other stressors?

 

[aart]

They can indeed be vicious but that does sound extreme.
This happened 3 week after adding the pullets?
I'm a bit confused about the housing, are the hens housed with the pullets, or.....?

 

[Ridgerunner]

@aart check the date. These are the three original pullets.

I thought I would post somewhere because nobody else I know with chickens says they have ever heard anything quite that violent come out of nowhere?

Where does this happen? While they are out ranging or while they are confined? If it is only when they are confined what is the physical size of that run or coop?

I don't know why this happened but some thoughts. People talk about this with roosters. When a dominant rooster is kicked out of the dominant position by another male they are sometimes ostracized. They are kicked out of the flock and their presence is no longer tolerated. Sometimes that defeated rooster remains in the flock and is accepted as a subordinate, but sometimes it gets vicious like this. Hens can be as vicious and brutal as a rooster.

Sometimes if a chicken is injured or diseased the flock can kick them out. It's a survival instinct from when they were feral. An injured or sick chicken can attract predators which puts the entire flock at risk so they eliminate that risk.

Of course, it could be something else entirely.

 

[aart]

@aart check the date. These are the three original pullets.

Ah, yes, missed that.

 

[JJN]

@aart check the date. These are the three original pullets.


Where does this happen? While they are out ranging or while they are confined? If it is only when they are confined what is the physical size of that run or coop?

I don't know why this happened but some thoughts. People talk about this with roosters. When a dominant rooster is kicked out of the dominant position by another male they are sometimes ostracized. They are kicked out of the flock and their presence is no longer tolerated. Sometimes that defeated rooster remains in the flock and is accepted as a subordinate, but sometimes it gets vicious like this. Hens can be as vicious and brutal as a rooster.

Sometimes if a chicken is injured or diseased the flock can kick them out. It's a survival instinct from when they were feral. An injured or sick chicken can attract predators which puts the entire flock at risk so they eliminate that risk.

Of course, it could be something else entirely.

Don't have any roosters. There was no injuries before. I've been told that my girls live in a palace that is double or triple the size of space that someone would think only three hens would need but I had read things about overcrowding and boredom so we were definitely trying to beat that from the get-go. Yesterday they were in their Coop and run when must have begun happening. We let them out to range and that was when the two pins down and were really attacking the one.

 

[aart]

Sometimes a bird with 'invisible' health issues will be drummed out of the flock with beatings.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I wasn't clear. I understand you only have the three hens. Hens can behave like roosters when it comes to stuff like flock dominance and pecking order. A lot of people on this forum don't understand that about hens. I made a mistake mentioning roosters. My bad. I understand why I confused you.

What I should have said is that hens can be brutal, vicious, bullying, deadly creatures when it comes to flock dominance and the pecking order. That is one possibility that might be going on.

 

[JJN]