JimBobBillyBoy
In the Brooder
Hi folks,
Over the last week and a half or so, I have witnessed new behavior from our hens. We've had our hens for nearly 2 years now, and I have never seen them act like this before.
For whatever reason, they have been being mean and kind of aggressive towards each other lately. I noticed a couple of them bickering back and forth end of last week, and they would end up pecking at each other. It's like they would take turns, one would start pecking round the coop like normal, then the other would try and sneak up behind her, jump on her, hold her down, and peck at the back of her head. After a few minutes, the other one would start doing it back to the previous one. One is a Maran, the other is a Rhode Island Red.
I stood and watched for awhile until I decided which one seemed to be the overly aggressive one, then took her and held her down for a minute to try and let her know I am the dominant one, and she should stop acting out. After doing this, things seemed to go back to normal for the rest of the day and the following day.
Since then, they're all starting to act out and be aggressive towards one another. None of them are drawing blood, and it doesn't seem like they're trying to kill each other or anything, it's more like they're just having a bad day and bitching and pecking at each other.
So I thought about it for awhile and decided to move their foraging grounds to a new spot with fresh grass and a slightly larger area. After doing this, they seemed to be back to normal for a couple of days. BUT, when I went out to collect eggs tonight in the coop, it was like all hell had broke loose!!! Bickering, bitching, pecking, fighting over food, none of this makes sense!
They have plenty of pellets in the coop, they have clean water, they have oyster shells, and gravel. I've moved them to a new area of the yard with fresh grass, but now I am out of ideas!
Does anyone have any ideas what I might try next? Our hens have always gotten along just fine. There's the Maran who's always been kind of the boss of the group, and we have a Rhode Island Red who's always been kind of the sissy of the group, but I have never seen the entire group getting angry with each other. I'm lost.
We have 2 Marans, 2 Rhode Island Reds, 2 ISA Browns, and 6 Leghorns. We raised them by hand since they were baby chic's, and they are family, and they have always gotten along.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks,
JimBob
Over the last week and a half or so, I have witnessed new behavior from our hens. We've had our hens for nearly 2 years now, and I have never seen them act like this before.
For whatever reason, they have been being mean and kind of aggressive towards each other lately. I noticed a couple of them bickering back and forth end of last week, and they would end up pecking at each other. It's like they would take turns, one would start pecking round the coop like normal, then the other would try and sneak up behind her, jump on her, hold her down, and peck at the back of her head. After a few minutes, the other one would start doing it back to the previous one. One is a Maran, the other is a Rhode Island Red.
I stood and watched for awhile until I decided which one seemed to be the overly aggressive one, then took her and held her down for a minute to try and let her know I am the dominant one, and she should stop acting out. After doing this, things seemed to go back to normal for the rest of the day and the following day.
Since then, they're all starting to act out and be aggressive towards one another. None of them are drawing blood, and it doesn't seem like they're trying to kill each other or anything, it's more like they're just having a bad day and bitching and pecking at each other.
So I thought about it for awhile and decided to move their foraging grounds to a new spot with fresh grass and a slightly larger area. After doing this, they seemed to be back to normal for a couple of days. BUT, when I went out to collect eggs tonight in the coop, it was like all hell had broke loose!!! Bickering, bitching, pecking, fighting over food, none of this makes sense!
They have plenty of pellets in the coop, they have clean water, they have oyster shells, and gravel. I've moved them to a new area of the yard with fresh grass, but now I am out of ideas!
Does anyone have any ideas what I might try next? Our hens have always gotten along just fine. There's the Maran who's always been kind of the boss of the group, and we have a Rhode Island Red who's always been kind of the sissy of the group, but I have never seen the entire group getting angry with each other. I'm lost.
We have 2 Marans, 2 Rhode Island Reds, 2 ISA Browns, and 6 Leghorns. We raised them by hand since they were baby chic's, and they are family, and they have always gotten along.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks,
JimBob