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[Rainer]

What do you think please? I have had an Eglu Cube with 4 chickens for nearly 2 yrs now, with no major issues. The chickens, 2 Miss Pepperpots & 2 Gingernut Rangers came with the Cube & have been fairly consistent layers throughout.

 

Recently one of the Pepperpots gave every indication of going broody, which this hen is prone to from experience & I know that nothing but time seems to help. No worries usually. However, where as normally the other hens largely ignore this hen when broody, on this occasion, the other Pepperpot hen will take every opportunity to seek out & attack this hen when it is anywhere but in the nest box & on occasions will even follow it in to there. Whenever it catches the hen it peck furiously at the back of the head of the broody hen, making its head plumage quite tatty & skin sore looking.

 

I appreciate the issue of peckin order & over time have recognised that the Gingernut Rangers are naturally more dominant than the Miss Pepperepots & that even within this heirachy, each chicken pairs have an order of dominance with unfortunately, this broody hen being at the bottom of the pecking order however that you look at it! That said, these are a long established group & nothing like this has ever been seen before. Also, whilst the 2 Ginfgernut Rangers maintain an occasional 'remember who's boss' type peck, they largely leave this broody chicken alone, whilst the other Pepperpot will actively stop whatever it is doing & come over to attack this unfortunate individual wherever it is & at any time, whenever it comes out of the cube.

 

Any ideas about what might be happening please & what I might do to control it would be appreciated as it is obviously disrupting all the chickens as the rate of laying has dropped considerably whilst this has been occuring. Many thanks in anticipation.

[Plum]

Poor little pepperpot. I really haven't got any experience but would a beak bit protect your girl? I wonder if they give off a scent when broody that causes this agression.

[Rainer]

I don't think that it is necessarily brooding-related as this chicken has gone broody frequently before & this response has never been exhibited by any of the other chickens.

 

Also, what makes it different is that whilst it tends to 'chunter' all the time that it isn't in the nest box (continuous low-level clucking), as it tends to whenever broody in the past, it now unusually exists the nest box at speed & runs over, almost 'seeking sanctuary' whenever I approach.

 

This is unusual as in the past, whenever broody, it has tended to remain almost 'welded' to the nest box & needed coaxing to move out. Time will tell.

[Nicola H]

The same thing is happening to my broody hen..........I only have 2 chickens at the moment and Bunty is broody again, every time i lift her off the nest so that she can eat and drink Belle gives her a nasty peck it is almost like she has forgotton about Bunty and thinks she is a new hen........My solution is to stop Bunty sitting on the nest and make her stay out all day with Belle I have done this for the last 2 days and it has worked no more pecking, but i have to shut the Eglu door to stop her returning to the nest. I am not sure if it would work with a larger flock but it has worked for me..... Good luck i hope they stop picking on the Pepperpot soon.

[Newmarcell]

Hi Rainer,

 

I'm no expert, but have you considered that your hen may be ill rather than broody. Chickens have a very good knack of hiding the fact that they're poorly. Keep an eye out for any other signs of illness, and if you are worried, contact a vet.

 

If you think that it is broodyness, you could always try Ukadex or an anti-peck spray to stop your other hens pecking at her.

 

As I said, I'm no expert - just a thought!

 

Newmarcell

Edited May 17, 2009 by Guest

[Rainer]

Thanks for the advice & shared experiences. Though I may not be able to keep the chickens out of the nest box, I am also tending to thinking that this may not be normal broodyness & may be illness-related.

 

However, whether this potential illness relates to the hen-pecked individual &/or refers to the violent chicken that's gone a bit psycho remains to be seen! Time will tell & truth be told, whenever the psycho-chicken is otherwise engaged, the hen-pecked individual (other than the constant chuntering) acts otherwise unperturbed & is eating & drinking ok. Thanks again to all.