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MrsTusa

Evil hen.. running out of options :-(

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Hello, this is my first time posting but I am hoping somebody may be able to offer some advice. We are first time time chicken keepers and got our three girls last August along with our eglu. After a few days establishing the pecking order, Dorothy, Sue (Gingernut rangers) & Priscilla (Miss Pepperpot) soon settled in and have been a complete pleasure until the last couple of weeks which have been just awful..

 

Two weeks ago we arrived home from work to the terrible sight of Dorothy dead in the run, it was awful enough to find that one of my girls had passed away but to make matters worse it soon became clear that she had been killed by Priscilla and the whole run & eglu itself was in a terrible mess from what looked to of been a prolonged attack. We are sure that Priscilla has been the ringleader in this as Sue had also been badly attacked and was injured herself. Knowing we needed to separate them for fear that Sue would soon end up the same way, my husband and I spent most of the evening temporarily dividing the run under torch light to give Sue the best chance we could of keeping out of Priscilla's way & fortunately a few days later I managed to pick up a second hand eglu on ebay.

 

We have been separating both girls for just over a week in the individual eglus whilst we are at work before letting them free range and roost together once we are home and things seemed to be getting better and Sue was healing nicely. Yesterday however we decided to try leaving them together for a couple of hours whilst we went shopping but sadly when we got home Sue had been brutally attacked yet again. I feel awful that I left her with Priscilla to do this again.

 

I am absolutely devastated at what has happened particularly as Dorothy & Sue were by far the friendliest of the three, Priscilla has always been more aloof and bigger than the other girls. I had read that 'progressively' pecking could get worse, however this went from nothing to Dorothy being killed in a day! We are at a loss for what to do for the best, Priscilla just seems to be truly evil & we can't help but think that she may be better being rehomed with a bigger flock where she cannot dominate all of the others?? I can hardly bring myself to even look at her at the minute!

 

Our girls get plenty of fresh veg, I have been giving them meal worms in case they need more protein and I have also been adding poultry drink to their water and spice to their feed should they be deficient in anything as they look to be coming into moult. They have the run of our big garden as much as possible whilst we are home - I really don't think there is any more that we can do for them!

 

We are two very upset and disillusioned chicken owners at the moment :-(

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Welcome to the forum, and I'm really sorry to hear of your experience. While pecking can be a serious problem, a sudden change in behaviour resulting in a fatal attack like the one you describe is really unusual. You've obviously eliminated any other possibility than that Priscilla is the cause of this, and you've done everything you can to change their situation.

 

I'm sorry to say it and no doubt others on here will disagree but I think I would cull a hen that has proved to be so aggressive. It's really hard to rehome hens anyway and she would need to be in a very large flock to overcome this characteristic. If you get two more hens, while there'll be a bit of settling down and adjustment between them and Sue, a problem of this severity is unlikely to reoccur.

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Welcome to the forum and I'm sorry that you have had such an unpleasant experience. I completely agree with Olly's advice, but would ask if you are absolutely certain that a creature such as a mink has not got into the run? They could easily slip through the bars of an Eglu.

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Thanks ever such a lot for the advice and the comments.

 

We are certain that nothing is getting in and harming them, we have our eglu and run double fenced/wired in as I was paranoid about foxes getting in. Makes me even more sad that they ultimately turned on each other like this. Luckily Sue seems to be in good spirits, she is is certainly looking worse for wear but still bright and laying daily. I feel ever so sorry for her all alone though but I never want to come home to a sight like that again.

 

I was really hoping that rehoming Priscilla may be a good option but I'd hate her to harm somebody else's chicks :( I guess we may have some tough decisions to make.

 

It's good to hear that this is not a common occurrence at least x

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Sorry to hear it. Babs one of our first chickens (a Pekin cross) killed a Belgian Bantam and took the wing off one of our hybrids so she was separated and lived quite happily strutting around the garden.

As DM says, it may be worth trying a beak bit so she can't do any damage or relocate her to another flock where she's enter at the bottom of the pecking order.

 

Not sure were in Derbyshire you are but I'm home over Easter if you need any help, we're not far from Tamworth.

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Mars, if you read the original post you'll see that these were Gingernut Rangers/Peoperpots, hybrids ideal for domestic chickens. I'd be interested to know which breeds you'd describe as 'docile'. All chickens have the capacity to become aggressive irrespective of breed but thankfully it's rare.

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In Mars defence I think he/she is not from the hens are for pets league like the rest of us. Silly thing to say, but I guess not in malice. GNR'S are bred in the main to be docile, I believe,but as in any breed sometimes it skips a gene. I've had 3 and they've been absolutely fine. I've also had a pepperpot who tried a sex change, so who knows! Just don't give up. I've mixed many breeds, with much success. I do have 3 runs and 1 chicken in a separate run with quail however :D . Plus a run with ducks.

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Mars, if you read the original post you'll see that these were Gingernut Rangers/Peoperpots, hybrids ideal for domestic chickens. I'd be interested to know which breeds you'd describe as 'docile'. All chickens have the capacity to become aggressive irrespective of breed but thankfully it's rare.

I have Colombian black tails, white stars, light Sussex, ancona and pure breed RIR they are fine, I hardly see any fighting

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Just catching up with this thread and I have to say that I am so sad that a forum member can make such unhelpful facetious remarks such as this :

 

I find bully hens delicious.

Be careful what breed you get, next time try docile breeds.

Good luck

 

As with any other situation in life if you cant find something helpful to say then please say nothing at all.

 

Mrs Tusa, I am so sorry that you have had this experience with your hens but equally sorry that your request for help has been met with sarcasm.

 

Ax

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Just catching up with this thread and I have to say that I am so sad that a forum member can make such unhelpful facetious remarks such as this :

 

I find bully hens delicious.

Be careful what breed you get, next time try docile breeds.

Good luck

 

As with any other situation in life if you cant find something helpful to say then please say nothing at all.

 

Mrs Tusa, I am so sorry that you have had this experience with your hens but equally sorry that your request for help has been met with sarcasm.

 

Ax

 

The only thing wrong about the quoted statement is that there isn't any meat on a hybrid layer to be worth eating.

 

There isn't much you can do with a rogue hen, and I have no issues with dispatching one such as that. (but then again, I don't consider my hens as pets, and they certainly don't get names)

 

Hen keeping is meant to be a pleasant pastime, not a constant worry.

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