In what way does she act?Because we can't have a rooster. Our alpha hen is a white leghorn who has taken it upon herself to be the rooster and that has not gone well.
She wants to be in charge and manage and defend the flock but she's not a rooster and doesn't understand how to do those things. She ends up bullying and attacking other hens. Then those hens bully and attack other hens. The result is no one in our flock gets along. She also gets aggressive with people. She has bitten my hands, arms, and face, and has bitten my roommate, too.
Oh....I hear you loud and clear. That was what happened to my flock not long ago. I ended up separated them into 2 flock, long story short.....they are a bit peaceful within their flock now, still a bit here and there, not completely harmonious, I take what I can get!
, somehow ...thing will adjust, try whatever you can think of and keep at it for awhile to see if it work.
Oh....I hear you loud and clear. That was what happened to my flock not long ago. I ended up separated them into 2 flock, long story short.....they are a bit peaceful within their flock now, still a bit here and there, not completely harmonious, I take what I can get!
I did get a bantam Pekin rooster, and he was just not fitting in with the flock, they did not like him, 1 or 2 of the hens were ok with him, then suddenly non of them like him at all. He proved to be a nuisance to my 13 hens so they told me. When they fight, he try to break them up by going between them, but he is shorter than them so they keep on fighting on while he is standing in between and use his tiny body to push one away from the other. I so love him for that
Hang in there
We currently have the flock separated into four pens: one group of three (the biggest bullies, including the alpha), another group of three (sisters who basically get along with each other), one hen who has to live on her own because she was being bullied so badly no one would let her eat, and the remaining five.
That is a lot of work you are doing for your hensThanks!
We're trying to integrate the solo hen with the three sisters. First we put them together in a fifth pen that was neutral ground for a few hours every day, where they were just separated by hardware cloth. There was some posturing and stink eye at first but that eventually subsided.
Next we built a little sub-pen for her inside the three sisters' pen. They had been living next to each other in separate pens, but now the solo hen is inside their pen with a hardware cloth divider. We also put in a single roost so they all roost together at night (separated by the hardware cloth). Their food and water dishes are next to each other on opposite sides of the hardware cloth so they eat and drink together, too.
The solo hen was miserable on her own and I'm really hoping the three sisters will eventually accept her. She's much happier being inside their pen and especially roosting with them at night. So far everyone seems to get along.
We are building yet another large coop/run. This will be neutral ground for everyone with brand new roosts, feeders & waterers, and toys. I want to eventually integrate the solo hen and three sisters with the other five, combining them into one flock of nine in this new run.
Then I want to reintroduce each of the three remaining bullies, one at a time, like you would a new hen. I'm hoping they will have lost their rank by then and will be able to get along with the others.
We're in a rush to get the new coop/run built and everyone back together before the heat returns in March. It would sure be a lot easier just having a rooster manage things!
Keep on working, swapping and changing around, one day you will find they fit. It is so hard, some days it is plain pain.
