[sneezer]

Hi
As the subject says I would really appreciate some advice. 

I have a hen who badly attacked the other, she then would not leave her alone when I tried to put them together.  So they were separated again.  I put on a beak bit (the white kind) and although she tried she couldn't hurt the other hen.  She gave up trying after about a week and they seemed fine, however, after wearing for 2 weeks her bottom beak got a groove in where the bit was and her beak could close so we decided to take the bit off. 

She was fine for a couple of hours then it all started again, had to quickly separate her.  Now what do we do?  Was it psychological because her beak could close at the end.  So therefore put another bit on.  Should we rehome her to a larger flock with a cockerel?  Would this help she is 2 years old?  This behaviour only started when they were slightly confined with this years snow.  This never happened before, can she change or is this it?

Any advice would be great thankyou 


Aunt Sally has added some punctuation to make the post more readable.

[joyfull]

are they still confined? if they are they need plenty of space to get away from each other - place plenty of evergreen branches in so the bullied hen can hide if she needs to .
If they are back free ranging then either remove the bully into a separate run in full view of the others for a week or two (if you want to put her with the others at night you can do or pop her into another coop). By doing this she will lose her place in the pecking order, if this fails pop another beak clip on her 

[ANHBUC]

Do you only have the 2 hens sneezer or is she just bullying one? 

[sneezer]

Thanks for the replies, their enclosure is 30 ft x 30ft with bushes, a few trees, this only happened when the snow fell heavy and they couldn't get around much, the thing is I have an area sectioned off which the one who was attacked lives most of the time because she still has a few problems and we can't eat her eggs.  I now have 2 new hens which she was fine with letting them into the coop with her etc, but as soon as the clip came off she became manic again, thats the only way to describe her she was running attacking each of them, its like she is out of control, with the clip she calmed down alot.
What worries me about the clip again is what if it comes off and we are not about I am sure she will badly attack them all.
With the pecking order I don't think she will lose her place because the old hen isn't well enough to fight her off and that would leave the new hens.

[ANHBUC]

When she attacks does the hen being attacked try to fight back?  If so you could try holding the bully down for the other hen to have a little peck back.  Do it a few times and see if it helps.  They see you as the cockerel so it might work.  I did it with one of mine that had a go at my broody bantam and she now keeps her distance from her and her chicks.

[sneezer]

The one she badly attacked just stands there and completely freezes, when she went for the new ones they just ran, it was awful when I found her attacked she just stood there whilst the other was stripping her vent area, however when she met the new ones she jumped on their backs to dominate them ,she just freezes when it comes to the top hen.
We are going to put another bit on her and see what happens, thats a good idea ANHBUC with the holding her down maybe i will try that anyhow to see what happens.

[JaK]

You could keep trying and pop on another beak bit or maybe keep her on her own for good?

We also had a hen like this, the beak bits did help for a while. We tried everything you have done. In the end I'd had enough as she seemed so blood thirsty, I took her well away from any other hens, she roamed on her own for 3 weeks but one morning one of my children (thinking they were being helpful) put her back with the others. She tore the combs of 3 hens and ripped open the backs of another 2 younger girls (all this in roughly 15mins). We had tried so hard but felt that we could not risk rehoming her as she could do the same again sooo, we ate her. Very yummy she was too (chicken noodle soup).

[ANHBUC]

You could keep trying and pop on another beak bit or maybe keep her on her own for good?

We also had a hen like this, the beak bits did help for a while. We tried everything you have done. In the end I'd had enough as she seemed so blood thirsty, I took her well away from any other hens, she roamed on her own for 3 weeks but one morning one of my children (thinking they were being helpful) put her back with the others. She tore the combs of 3 hens and ripped open the backs of another 2 younger girls (all this in roughly 15mins). We had tried so hard but felt that we could not risk rehoming her as she could do the same again sooo, we ate her. Very yummy she was too (chicken noodle soup).

We had a male quail that was like that and we gave him plenty of chances but he was definitely blood thirsty.  He ended up as my first "dispatch" which I found really easy due to his temperament and of course his size.

I wonder if your hen has had a stroke sneezer if her personality has changed so suddenly or she may have a tumour.   

[sneezer]

Thanks JaK, its hard to know what to do for the best, she is such a lovely girl with me, def couldn't eat her ,although I have told her thats what will happen as she is a nice size 

ANHBUC thats a thought, it was such a surprise with the change in her, that was the reason we never added to the 2 hens because they were so good together there was never any pecking, they would walk side by side eating grass, always dust bathed together, they really were joined at the hip!
It would make more sense that there is something more sinister going on, I guess we will have to wait and see.

[Sassy]

Adding her to a flock with a cockerel may sort it but you would need to advise the flock owner of her temperament.

[joyfull]

and check with your neighbours - nobody has the automatic right to keep a cockerel (their crowing can be heard streets away - and some may not appreciate the noise at 4am)

[sneezer]

Thankyou every one for your help, we put another bit on her yesterday, but she is still grumpy with the little ones, so will take bit off and she can have the seperate run and house and live there she is next to the others and can see them all.  If she seems unhappy then I will try to rehome making sure the person knows all about her!  I will not be getting a cockerel, so no worries there. 

[ANHBUC]

Adding her to a flock with a cockerel may sort it but you would need to advise the flock owner of her temperament.

Sassy was saying if you rehome her with a flock with a cockerel it may sort her out, but to advise the owner of her temperament.

Good luck with putting her in isolation.  I hope it is a temporary glitch and she will return to her previous gentle personality.