[Bootzie]

In  the last 24 hours we have one of our hens egg bound, and the others have attacked the poor girl making her bleed, then she prolapsed.

The hens has been seen by the vet and checked over and given anti-biotic's and pain relief.
We then separated her from the rest under advice of the vet.

Now the what we think is the boss hen is going for the other hens' bottom making her bleed.

Is there a reason why one hen is attacking the others, and can we stop it.

[henamoured]

I'm a bit confused - is your prolapsed hen still with the attacking one, not separated?

Hens will attack other poorly ones particularly, as they would naturally be ejected from the flock as a threat because too weak.

You can spray gentian violet on a red patch to disguise it as hens are drawn to attacking red areas.

If your attacking hen is a consistent bully you can fit a beak bit to stop her being able to fully close her beak - but it is a last resort in my opinion.

[Bootzie]

No the prolapsed hen is separated. The Bully hen seems to attack the other. (We have Three) I seem to think its hen pecking, and the bullier is attacking for supremacy. We have recently moved them to new static Run and Coop and it maybe it is trying to find her feet to be boss of the Run.

The poorly hen is on constant watch at the moment and is getting full run of the garden, and is to be put with the others during roosting time, inside a cat carrier to protect her. It has only been 24 hours since we found her sick. So introducing them is too early, we have been told by the vet to wait until after last check up on friday before we put them together.

They have a Good 5sqm Run and loads of space for the weak ones to hide.

[Sassy]

If when you put them back together it is still a problem you should try removing the bully for a couple of weeks, keeping her within sight of the others, then when she goes back she will be bottom of the pack