Sudden aggression toward one flock member

[GilmantonChickenMama22]

Hello, this is my first post to this site though I've come here before for advice from people in similar situations.
I just brought my flock to their coop from free ranging outside. I thought i heard them warn clicking earlier but when i went out i couldn't find any predators and after ten minutes went back inside. When i went just now to lead them inside for the night, i noticed blood on the rim of their feeder which i left outside with them because it was cold out today and i didn't see them staying outside long. I didn't see any chickens missing, no one looked injured. Brought my the five month olds and my duck Henry in first, and at first i was worried Henry was injured, but i think his feet were just cold. Then i saw my missing chickens come out from under the porch, the mom and dad from the other three chickens. The hen is a bantam and hates walking through snow, so i picked her up and carried her inside. After a few minutes, one of the Juvenile's, which has always been a touch aggressive, attacked her right in from if me. I picked her up and noticed she was bleeding from her comb, explaining the blood on the food tray. When i put her back down because i know i shouldn't interfere, the large rooster went for her as well, with the other chicken joining in. I snatched her up shocked, only to have the juvenile fly on my shoulder and try to attack her again. By which point i fling the troublemaker of my head, stuffed the bantam in my jacket and slammed the coop door on the crazy chickens. Henry has no clue what was going on, and neither did i. I cleaned the area where the hen was bleeding. Now I'm worried about what to do next. They have never acted this way before, and as unbelievable as it seems, the bantam is actually the highest ranking female. So why did this happen? They have lived together for half a year, and she mother's then for almost twice as long as it's normal. Opening order seemed to be established, and she's still laying eggs. I also don't know what i should do with her after tonight. I am genuinely worried about her coming to harm, especially cause she's so small. On one hand I've read over and over not to interfere with pecking order spats, but they've been living together for half a year and she is their mother/partner, so i am not sure that's it. Could it have been the blood on her comb making them all attack her?

The other problem is, the three juveniles look like triplets even though they were very different as chicks. I'm not even sure if they're hens or roosters. As chicks i thought we had one rooster who i took a shine to right away and became very tame, and two hens who were aggressive. When they got older they would have ' cock fights' with each other, their brother running to hide with mom. Could they all be roosters, and the one that attacked the mom today is coming into maturity and fighting over her with the dad/main rooster? And if i wanted to separate the bad egg,i wouldn't know which it was, so should I lock them all away? But that leaves the bantam alone with daddy rooster who totally shocked me today. The dad is a Jersey giant, and very gentle for a rooster, but so big (there is a larger backstory to this weird sized flock, i did not intentionally raise and breed with such size differences on purpose). I've never seen him run after and go for her like he did today except when they were chicks.

Sorry for the babbling,i truly am. I would appreciate any advice on why this happened and what i should do.

 

[Mrs. K]

First the mother/ being raised together/ everyone getting along in the past. really has very little influence on their behavior in the future. Being raised together does not allow chickens to over look other problems. So that makes for a list of questions:

1. How old are all your chickens? How many in each age group?
2. How much space do you have in feet x feet in the coop, and in the run.
3. Can you post pictures of your bantams, they could very well be roosters.

Now for the bad news, I don't think this will go back to the way it was yesterday. I think the flock is telling you as loudly as they can, that the birds in your set up are not working out and something has to change. It can be hard to accept that, and a lot of people dither and 'just wish they would all be nice' but it seldom works.

Count your birds, measure your area, reconsider who you really want, and who could move on into someone else's flock or into someone's pot or into another set up. Always solve for peace in the flock.

Mrs K

 

[GilmantonChickenMama22]

First the mother/ being raised together/ everyone getting along in the past. really has very little influence on their behavior in the future. Being raised together does not allow chickens to over look other problems. So that makes for a list of questions:

1. How old are all your chickens? How many in each age group?
2. How much space do you have in feet x feet in the coop, and in the run.
3. Can you post pictures of your bantams, they could very well be roosters.

Now for the bad news, I don't think this will go back to the way it was yesterday. I think the flock is telling you as loudly as they can, that the birds in your set up are not working out and something has to change. It can be hard to accept that, and a lot of people dither and 'just wish they would all be nice' but it seldom works.

Count your birds, measure your area, reconsider who you really want, and who could move on into someone else's flock or into someone's pot or into another set up. Always solve for peace in the flock.

Mrs K

The rooster and the bantam are almost two years old, the three juveniles are five months. The coop has close to fifty square feet of floor space for the five chickens and one duck, and they are free ranged during the day unless it's freezing or terrible wind-chill. They also have roosting bars and birch branches. The pictures are of my bantam, rooster, and the three juveniles as chicks and now.

 

[Mrs. K]

You definitely have enough room so that is good.

I cannot tell with the pictures you posted, but I am wondering it you do have 4 roosters and 1 hen. The reason I am thinking that, is that if one of the pullets was a hen, she is the bird I would expect to be attacked, not the older hen.

I am wondering if you don't actually have 3 cockerels, a rooster and a single hen -the bantam. The juvenile flying up to your shoulder may appear to be friendly, but is actually very aggressive behavior, typical of a cockerel.

If you want, get some pictures of your 3 juvenile birds, in good light, showing their combs and tails if you can. Often times with a mature rooster in the flock, the juveniles will not crow or show other behavior, until about 5 months. Then the hormones take over and it can get very violent.

If they are cockerels - you need to pull the single hen out of there. They could eventually kill her. Then the options you have are:

• re-home the cockerels - but this takes time, and you are out of time
• cull the cockerels - some people eat them, some bury them and plant a bush
• re-home the hen - keep a bachelor set up without hens
• build a bachelor quarters for the boys
• The older rooster and hen, could possible live together for at least a while - you will just have to watch and see.
• do nothing - in which this will get a lot worse.

Being raised together, really has little influence on cockerel behavior after 3 months.

If by chance, they are all pullets, - maybe something is wrong with your hen...but I don't think so.

Mrs K

 

[GilmantonChickenMama22]

You definitely have enough room so that is good.

I cannot tell with the pictures you posted, but I am wondering it you do have 4 roosters and 1 hen. The reason I am thinking that, is that if one of the pullets was a hen, she is the bird I would expect to be attacked, not the older hen.

I am wondering if you don't actually have 3 cockerels, a rooster and a single hen -the bantam. The juvenile flying up to your shoulder may appear to be friendly, but is actually very aggressive behavior, typical of a cockerel.

If you want, get some pictures of your 3 juvenile birds, in good light, showing their combs and tails if you can. Often times with a mature rooster in the flock, the juveniles will not crow or show other behavior, until about 5 months. Then the hormones take over and it can get very violent.

If they are cockerels - you need to pull the single hen out of there. They could eventually kill her. Then the options you have are:

• re-home the cockerels - but this takes time, and you are out of time
• cull the cockerels - some people eat them, some bury them and plant a bush
• re-home the hen - keep a bachelor set up without hens
• build a bachelor quarters for the boys
• The older rooster and hen, could possible live together for at least a while - you will just have to watch and see.
• do nothing - in which this will get a lot worse.

Being raised together, really has little influence on cockerel behavior after 3 months.

If by chance, they are all pullets, - maybe something is wrong with your hen...but I don't think so.

Mrs K

We had 0F yesterday, so i went out today to take pictures... Weirdly enough i found two eggs behind the nesting box. However, I'm not sure if i didn't miss them two or three days ago before i brought the hen inside. The two on the highest perch were giving me some bad vibes, and i ducked out quickly after saying hello to my favorite which i thought was the only rooster of the teenagers. He already had tail feathers the first three days after hatching and a little comb. He's a sweety, and doesn't mind being picked up from railings and cuddled. The other two...i had assumed were very bad tempered hens even though they look like roosters(i thought with 50% chance in each egg being a hen, of the 3 eggs i should have at least one hen). But with everything that happened idk. Second one is the one that attacked the hen, same bird as fourth pic because it moved.

If one of the three ones were a hen, would she establish herself with a now maturing brother and attack the mature hen? It doesn't make sense, but I'm grasping at straws. The two mean ones were sitting on the highest branch together, the nice cockerel was on the roosting bars alone, and the older rooster was walking around with the duck on the floor.

 

[Iluveggers]

All of those pictures you just posted are boys.

 

[Mrs. K]

I agree - those 4 pictures are al cockerels. You need to pull the hen ASAP.

Then make some hard decisions. If you have not had experience culling a bird, and would like to do so, I would recommend the broomstick or the cone and slit the juggler method. Both are practically fail proof, and both can be done by a single person without a lot of experience.

But until you do that - do pull the hen. Her life is going to be terrible in that set up. You might contact your local 4-h, or poultry club or look online for some hens for sale. A lot of people are looking at their flocks and thinking chicks, and needing space.

The luck of chickens can be hard - once I hatched 9 and got 7 roosters, so it does happen. Good grief. if you order chicks and order sex links know that I won't judge you. I mean really you need some HENS

Mrs K