The New Head Chicken Question

[Rockergirl]

Our sweet maddy-bird passed away today. it was heartbreaking for us, she was our head hen and the queen. Such a character and so fun to be around......

Onto my question, we have just a small flock. The next in line to be the leader had started working her way to head hen immediately....which is expected. But she is in no way the sweet gentle head hen that maddy-bird was....she isn't mean but she has been mounting the other hens like crazy, every day, all the time. The other hens just lay down and take it. I don't understand and it's pretty upsetting....is that normal? Will it stop? Is it just because she is trying to set the tone that she is next to be boss or should we worry about it....I mean, it's quite often.... the other girls already knew she was next in line, she had nothing to prove...

Anyways, should we break it up? worry about it? suggestions?

 

[fluffycrow]

Sorry for the loss of your head hen . Sounds like she was a wonderful hen, and will be dearly missed.

Do you have a rooster in your group? Much like roosters, every head hen will lead her group and act differently. Some head hens play a more active role in the well-being of the group than others (something that comes with experience, based on my observations).

Right now this “changing of the guard” is at its early stages; your new head hen feels the need to assert her dominance, making sure that her position is clear. Even if it’s something the other hens have accepted, she needs to feel confident in her new role as well. If your group is roosterless, my experience there is limited, but I have noticed that the process of assuming the head hen role in such a group doesn’t always go as smoothly.

If the other hens aren’t showing signs of being overly stressed and/or physically hurt, I’d let them sort it out for now. Things should settle a bit soon enough

 

[Rockergirl]

Sorry for the loss of your head hen . Sounds like she was a wonderful hen, and will be dearly missed.

Do you have a rooster in your group? Much like roosters, every head hen will lead her group and act differently. Some head hens play a more active role in the well-being of the group than others (something that comes with experience, based on my observations).

Right now this “changing of the guard” is at its early stages; your new head hen feels the need to assert her dominance, making sure that her position is clear. Even if it’s something the other hens have accepted, she needs to feel confident in her new role as well. If your group is roosterless, my experience there is limited, but I have noticed that the process of assuming the head hen role in such a group doesn’t always go as smoothly.

If the other hens aren’t showing signs of being overly stressed and/or physically hurt, I’d let them sort it out for now. Things should settle a bit soon enough

Thank you for the reply, she was a wonderful hen.

We do not own any roosters, just a small flock of 5 hens. It is two different flocks and the new leader is from the original flock (which was a flock of 3 until maddy-bird passed) and then there is a second flock of 3 that are nearly 2 years old. They are only about a year difference in age and actually the younger flock is much bigger in size but have always respected the original flock as being their first and always took a backseat, waited their turn to eat, drink, etc.