Agressive hen

[Anna Stox]

Hi folks,

I have had the same five hens (pekins and 1 OEG) together for the last 9 months with no problems, however, 3 weeks ago one of the hens was severely beaton up by the top chicken, with one of the others contributing. They had been pecking her head, had removed most of her head feathers and damaged her eye area. This was over the course of one evening! I had to remove her from the cage as she was too injured to be left with the others, and I put her in a smaller run with the OEG as a companion. Once she was fully healed I put her back in the main cage, and put the bully and a companion in the small run.

Anyway, this morning I moved the main group to a new bigger run, and, once they had settled down, I added the bully, in the hope that with the extra space and new surroundings she wouldn't feel the need to bully. I then kept an eye on them - all seemed well.

Unfortunately however, when I went back at lunch I found the bully pinning down the original bullied hen. It was incredibly aggressive and very persistant, with her aiming for the eyes. She also didn't stop until I grabbed her. So it is back to the drawing board. I have separated the bully again, and was thinking that keeping her separate (but next to) the others for a couple of weeks might make her less secure in her dominance, but is this just wishful thinking? While I could get rid of the bullied one, I would worry the bully would just start on someone else. Any ideas, opionins, advice would be very gratefully recieved!

Thanks,
Anna

[Suechooks]

The usual advice is to remove the bully - personally I'd put her out of sight of the others so she comes back as a stranger. I had a Bluebelle who was causing mayhem so I was lucky enough to be able to rehome her and she is now absolutely fine within her new flock.

[Anna Stox]

Thanks Sue,

How long would you normally keep her seperate?

Anna

[RichmondHens]

I agree with Sue. Get rid of the bully, either temporarily or permanently! If you are separating her off, I would keep her apart for at least a couple of weeks.

The other thing I would look out for is if one or more of the others start beating up the bullied one - this may then indicate something not quite right with her, maybe not apparent to you. Chickens can sense when one of the flock is ill and instinct tells them to drive it out and away, to avoid affecting the others.

[Anna Stox]

Thanks for the advice folks. I'll move her further away (at present she's in an adjacent run) for a few weeks. I'll also keep an eye on the bullied one - she seems well, but who knows. I had also had a hen with a hugh growth (complete with feathers) on her neck (which has since 'fallen off' - bizarre!) - I had expected her to bullied, but had no problems - funny creatures, chickens.