please help, i have been crying about this situation

[angelat]

hello all,

i have been so upset today. will try to keep it short. i replaced my hen who died with a rescue black rock hen for my resident hen aroun a month ago. i have two now. the lady who runs the rehoming place said the hen had come in with 3 others but was boss of the flock. a lady took 3 but left my one as wasnt sure if she could cope with an over confident one.

it seemed perfect that i take her as she is about the same age as my resident one(who also was the confident one over the one who died). the rescue black rock made it clear from the off that she was going to be in charge and there was a few days of hen pecking etc then it all calmed down they dustbathed together etc and all was ok.

a week or so ago my resident hen has gone on the molt quite hard and the pecking order seems to be happening again. it is so sad to watch. i have witnessed today on two occassions the rescue hen pecking out the new feathers that my resident hen is growing and making her squawk. my resident hen is now scared and literally runs away when the black rock comes near her. they sleep together and appear to be calm when they go away at night, sit side by side etc and no signs of bleeding etc in morning.

i have been crying today! i am a softie but i find it so hard to watch. will things return to normal after the molt? is there anything i can do? if i try and help by shielding my resident bird it seems to make things worse. i dont want to have to take the rescue hen back but feel so sorry for my old one. any ideas please. thanks.
a very sad angela x

[Suechooks]

Oh dear. I think you'll find that the situation will probably settle once your hen stops moulting. Its not just feathers coming out but hormonal fluctuations too so she probably feels abit under the weather. You could try spraying her with some anti-peck spray to deter the rescue hen. As well as that, try giving her some extra protein to help the feathers come through and add a bit of Poultry Spice or similar vitamin/mineral boost. Put extra feeder and drinker out and try providing some hidey holes for you hen to escape in to. Its probably not as bad as you think and as long as no blood is being shed its really just normal chicken behaviour. They can appear to be quite horrid to each other in our eyes but is how they live as a flock.

[Scarlet]

As Sue says really. They can be horrid! As well as all the above you could try some things to occupy her - broccoli on strings, mirrors etc

[pauco]

Ahhh, the Hormonal changes in females eh! Nothing worse or more complecated
But dont lose heart things will change when your own hen is back to normal.
It's all down to her confidence being at it's lowest ebb, and the new kid on the block taking advantage. When yours is back to her old self she will sort it out and give the other female a talking too.
Now i am no expert on Chickens and do not keep them, i only offer my advice on my own observations on wild birds, and their behaviour. We had a female Blackbird
who was in moult just after the breeding season, and the new kid on the block thought it would be a good time to see off the resident female! and take over the
territory, bad idea! our female won the day and now back as top girl.
So dont worry things will sort themselves out. Like i said, i am no expert just down
to my own observations over the last 40 years.
Am i really that old

paul.

[petal]

They will settle down, however you could make a little jacket for the picked on hen to protect her?

[Glutton4...]

As others have said really. I understand how you feel though. My feelings are that perhaps your 'flock' is actually too small; the dominant Hen would be busier with two or three other Hens to interact with.

I have two Ganders in with my Chooks. If I go down there with some tasty leftovers, the 'Boys' will actually grab any Hen in their way, by the feathers, and throw her out of the way of the food. They do yell, poor little things!

[kathyd]

You poor thing, and poor hen . I'm too new to chicken keeping to have any suggestions, but it does sound as though they like to be together despite the traumas during the day... I've never heard of chicken jackets, but maybe it's worth a try to protect your resident hen?

I definitely think it's worth you giving your bird extra attention and love so she knows you care too, maybe it'll build up her confidence again and stop her getting depressed?

Let us know how it goes?

xx

[Scarlet]

How about this?

[squibbs]

We do like to anthropomorphise our animals and I think we all have a tendency to see a flock in the same way we see a bunch of mates hanging out together. However chickens only flock because they feel more secure together, and they feel more secure together because they hope if bad things happen they will happen to other members of the flock, usually the weaker members - so it doesn't pay to be meek and mild mannered

[its hilly]

Oh dear, Angelat, this is the tough side of chook keeping. Those lovely friendly birds are actually very primative. Their main instinct is survival, which means that they will try to drive any weak member of the flock away, so as not to put themselves at risk. When moulting they are 'under par' so can get picked on. The good news is that it will right itself when your girl finishes her moult. And chooks make huge amounts of noise and fuss when hurt a bit, but go very quiet and still when in real pain. So if she is running off squawking it's a good sign, if she was sat letting bossy have a real blood drawing go at her then I would worry. Try anti-pecking spray, looks horrible, but harmless.
And Suechooks advice is great, make sure that she has plenty of little hidey places to keep out of the way of bully bags for now, extra protien (mealworms are good) lots of food piles, any tonic you care to add.
And hard though it may be, give the first food, treats, fusses etc to bossy..it will keep her attention away from moulter, and let her eat in peace. If she (bossy baggage) is the boss then she is! and no amount of your 'helping' the other will change that, it will just encourage bossy to try harder to keep moulter in her place.
It's hard I know, but it WILL be okay soon. As they are happy together at night they are still pals, odd though that may seem to us, and will be fine again soon. Moulter will take her revenge when bossy moults..I bet you.

[VirginVegGrower]

We have a moulting hen - never realised it was as the trees deleaf, I find that a wonder of nature - its been ghastly here too. I have been sobbing one minute and hysterical the next. I have seen my vet more in the last three weeks with two hens then I have in three years with two dogs. So don't think it's just you! We lost our Rosemary to what we don't know, then Madeline went downhill. We have had her inside the house, in a box, heated floor in bathroom that we can turn down to provide right temp. We have been feeding oats, probiotic yoghurt, grated apple and sultanas as she went off pellets. We have popped poultry spice into this mix too. We feed rice, corn and chopped boiled egg in the afternoon. She had nutridrops for three days too as she had a pale comb/wattles and was just standing around. The vet gave her antibiotic just in case but thought maybe she was weak through moulting. I have attacked everything and googled at length. Madeline is now turning around, still weak but is regaining her henny status - she was top dog. Pecking order was something that horrified me at the beginning and keeping hens is a steep learning curve.
The moral of this story is that they sort themselves out in the end and if your hen is particularly weak, you can turn them around eventually. As its Halloween I have been hanging apples which gives the other two something to peck at leaving Miss Madds alone.

[nellie-m]

i have witnessed today on two occassions the rescue hen pecking out the new feathers that my resident hen is growing

Hi Angela,

if she actually pecks them out it could be lack of protein. Also, growing feathers still have their blood vessels in the quills which is very tempting for feather peckers!

Glutton4 is quite right in saying that you should get more hens. That was my very first thought when I read your post. I would suggest:

1. to get at least two more hens
2. make sure protein in their food is at least 16% (what do you feed?)
3. as a first aid management you could keep them separated by a fence during the day so that they can see each other but not peck until your first hen is fully feathered again

Unfortunately, feather pecking can become a real habit. There's also a genetic background - I have found that some strains are more likely to develop that behaviour than others, even within the same breed. The more nervous they are, the more they develop feather pecking. I definitely want a calm temperament in birds I choose for breeding. I've learned that the hard way. A breed, especially the laying breeds, may be agile and watchful, but not hysteric. Once you have hysteric birds among your breeders, it won't be long until you get feather peckers, especially in spring (when egg production starts and the need for protein rises) and during moulting (because blood is so yummy) :-(((

[VirginVegGrower]

Actually Nellie m I have noticed that my skitty kitty hen, a Cream Legbar likes a peck or two. She's a rogue! So nerves do obviously play a part - think you are onto something there for sure.

[baldrick]

also 2 small bowls of food/mash/water not one large of each. an upside down dog bed and some biggish logs or boxes on their sides look a mess but make it easier to dodge a bully. scatterfeed keeps bullies busy as does hanging baskets of weeds. layers mash with warm water or scrambled egg or tuna are all nice high protien high value foods which the bully will go for giving the victim a rest.Idont normally condone punishment based training of any species but when spike was being especially and destructively evil to the two new girls I found crafty squirts of water made her wind her neck in within the day. she thought her victims were doing it! unfortunately princess caught me in the act and now runs off skwawking if i pick up the bottle for the most innocuous reason. she also still bullies the young ones, but as she is the only bully they dodge her ok. Chin up. chickens are vile. dont worry unless you see blood. if you do hook her out quick.

[nellie-m]

How about this? (funny pic of hen in jumper)

Soo funny! Did you buy it at the "très chick" boutique? Or did you DIY? In that case, you should definitely consider running a "fowl fashion" online shop yourself!