why has she become so spiteful ?

[bokboklady]

i have four chickens, all bought together a year ago and they all get on well and lay regulally, but i noticed one of them just recently has started pecking at one other bird in particular ( the most gentle one ), she will even run across the run just to give her a peck , and also pecks me quite hard, which hurts !!, the others just peck at my clothes gently but this one digs really hard, and also she has stopped laying for some reason, i know all my girls eggs as they are slightly different in colour and size, so i know its her that has stopped, she did a weird shaped soft egg in the compound last week, so could there possibly be something wrong with her , or has she just developed a nasty streak, i would appriciate any advice.

 

[Wisher1000]

you could try separating her from the others for a few days (where they can still see each other. It will take the bully down a notch or two and give the gentlest one a rest. Of course, she may be nasty again trying to get back to the top spot.

 

[bjash]

Let me guess--no rooster in the flock?

That's pretty common for one to rise to the top and act like that. Sometimes you can bump them back down, but from time to time there will usually always be one that is more spiteful than the rest.

 

[bokboklady]

yes, i did figure that she see's herself as the roo, so she must be challenging me, is that why she has stopped laying do you think?

 

[bjash]

BINGO!

It's pretty common and there are a lot of threads on here about people dealing with the same issue, so it shouldn't be too hard to take a look around and see what people have tried in order to get her back on track.

My girls live more in a democracy (vs. an autocracy) and don't have a particular "leader" per se, but that doesn't mean one is more dominant than the other. They all still lay, but the rooster roles have been divided out. One is the loudmouth, another is a bigger one, a different one seems to act more dominant, but is overruled by another normal sized one, so it all works out in the end.