What is wrong w/ these chickens

[Courtney R]

I let out all my hens and i have 2 roosters and i put a rooster in each coop. 1 of my hens will attack and peck the others. Their is 1 Red that she pecks and it will stand there and wait 4 her to peck , then run. And i let out my lil rooster and he was doin the wing thing to the Red, which r like 5 times his size, and they were pecking him on the head, it was funny, but i felt bad 4 him so i tried 2 catch him to put him back up-all of my chickens can fly, i dont really like to cut their wings cuz they shood b able to fly-and then he flew, and landed inside a washing machine

then i caught him an put him bak in, then a lil l8r i put all the chickens back where they were supposed 2 b.

 

[Jungleexplorer]

I let out all my hens and i have 2 roosters and i put a rooster in each coop. 1 of my hens will attack and peck the others. Their is 1 Red that she pecks and it will stand there and wait 4 her to peck , then run. And i let out my lil rooster and he was doin the wing thing to the Red, which r like 5 times his size, and they were pecking him on the head, it was funny, but i felt bad 4 him so i tried 2 catch him to put him back up-all of my chickens can fly, i dont really like to cut their wings cuz they shood b able to fly-and then he flew, and landed inside a washing machine

then i caught him an put him bak in, then a lil l8r i put all the chickens back where they were supposed 2 b.

Doesn't sound like anything is wrong with them. They are just doing what comes natural to them. Have you ever heard of a thing called, "The Pecking Order". When birds that have been kept separate (even if just by a fence) are suddenly put together, they will immediately begin to establish the pecking order. It is simply a natural competition for dominance in the flock. It happens in hens as well as roosters and you will even see a hen take it to a small rooster on occasion. If left alone, they will work it out and things will calm down in a few days. There are some breeds like the AG and OEG that are a little more aggressive and you might have to intervene if things get out of hand. But most backyard breeds should work it out without anyone getting hurt. Make sure they are well fed and that there is an abundance of food and water for them and things should go fine. Once they get the pecking order worked out; if you then lock them back up for a long time, they will have to work it out all over again.

 

[Courtney R]

Yeah, i have heard of the pecking order, i put something else on here bout it. So, shood i just let them together w/ each other and let them sort it out? They wont kill each othr will they

 

[Jungleexplorer]

Under normal circumstances, they should not hurt or kill each other. But each case is different. I would observe them closely at first. If you see things getting out of hand, step in and break them up. If one chicken seem to be the root of the problem, just separate that one until the others get settled down and then try introducing that one back into the group. I have a mixed free range flock of 60 birds made up of about 75% American Game, which are know for being aggressive. My flock lives in perfect peace with each other even though I have 18 full grown roosters. But they also have ten acres to roam on and they have formed several groups and each group has it's own territory. If I were to try to confine all these birds into a much smaller space, I have no doubt that there would be trouble. The only death I have ever had due to fighting was actually between two AG mother hens who were confined to a 60 by 60 foot pen with their newly hatched chicks. They went at each other so hard that they wore each other out to the point that one died and the other was too weak to mother her chicks, so I had to raise them in a brooder. Of course I had no idea about what happened until it was all over. But I have only seen this once in twenty years of raising chickens.

Just watch and observe them at first and intervene if necessary. Feed and water them good before releasing them and make sure there is ample food during the adjustment stage. Things should go fine. Good luck.

 

[Courtney R]

Thnx, the hen i hav had is the 1 that tries to fight and peck the othrs