Wyandotte Attitudes

[WhatsUpDuck]

We have two wayandotte hens, and they are really bossy. I'm regretting getting these girls. They are so bossy and bully especially to our younger two that are 13 weeks. All of the other hens for the most part have accepted the younger two, but these two are just bullies. They haven't drawn blood or pulled their feathers out bad or anything, but I feel bad watching them pick on the two younger. Is this normal for this breed to be bullies? I do want to note that the breeder had them with turkeys before we brought them home..I wonder if this changed their behavior?

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I am not sure it’s breed-specific behavior. I’ve only had one Wyandotte but I’ve had lots of chickens and there are always little scuffles during integration and if you don’t have a rooster a hen will take over the role. I’ve had two hens do the job where one acted as more of an enforcer and did the physical “bullying” and the other did things like making sure everyone went into the coop. So it really depends on your flock dynamics. When integrating I always make sure to have multiple feed and water stations and lots of clutter and then I let the hens sort it out as long as there’s no blood and no one is being kept from eating/roosting. Hope that helps. Pictures of your run/setup would be helpful too so we can see if there are ways to improve that for integration purposes

 

[WhatsUpDuck]

We have two roosters. One with our main flock. And one lone rooster that free ranges that I didn't cull when it didn't work out. The younger ones and the main flock have been together full time for about 7 weeks. They usually run to the coop and jump on the roost and hang out there or they go into the playhouse we have in the run.We do have separate feeding and watering areas. They aren't actually being hurt, but it bothers me that the wyandottes are such bullies and chasing and pecking at them all the time.

 

[AinaWGSD]

This is, unfortunately, very normal chicken behavior and has nothing to do with breed. Young pullets usually don't fully integrate into the flock until they reach point of lay. Once they start laying, other flock members are usually more accepting of them.

 

[WhatsUpDuck]

Thanks for the advice everyone!

 

[Ridgerunner]

younger two that are 13 weeks.

I'm wondering how much room they have. The more room the better. And I agree, it is not breed specific.

It is normal in my flock for the pullets to form a separate flock until they start to lay. That's during the day as well as at night when they are sleeping. They are living animals so you can often find exceptions but separate flocks is what I expect. Once they start laying they start eating and sleeping together.

They aren't actually being hurt,

To me, this is the key. As long as no one is getting hurt life is good.