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When hens attack...
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<blockquote data-quote="Marguerite" data-source="post: 299661" data-attributes="member: 1991"><p>I respect the theories of mineral deficiency and perhaps maggot hunting, but tis sounds to me exactly like a power play move. Chook size doesn't matter here, it always comes down to - can I beat that hen into being subservient to me? Presence of rooster or not makes little difference, I've seen hens push them around. I've even seen subordinate roosters imitate lower pecking order hens in order to avoid being beaten up. We had a young rooster that had to go, so we gave it to neighbours who were rooster-less. Our neighbour's hens scalped the young rooster, he got pulled out and segregated just in time. Once he was older and bigger (we called him Turkey) he grew to be a beautiful bird with a scar on his head. But when older he was able to rule the roost, but not well enouh to stay. We finally had to get rid of him, he was just too noisy.</p><p></p><p>It will settle down. It's possible that Buttercup is unwell at the moment and Coco is smart enough to notice this. Flocking birds hide any ilness or infirmity, in order to avoid being attacked for it. But if it continues you probably need to remove either Coco or Buttercup for a while.</p><p></p><p>You said they're young and you hatched them out. How sure are you of their gender? Also be aware - some hens can be hermaphrodites. We had some that had both sets of sex organs (we discovered on autopsy). We learned to despatch the roosters (because oterwise they would either fight to the death, or crow and disturb the neighbours) and a few times we found, on cleaning the chooks, ovaries AND testes. It was often these hermaphrodite birds that were the most aggressive.</p><p></p><p>I had a neighbour, an old retired farmer, who gratefully accepted gifts of giblets etc. I took him these testes and he commented on the large size of them (compared to the small size of the bird they came from). He said he was nervous about what eating those testes would do to him, but was also nervous about feeding them to the magpies on his balcony. We envisaged Jurassic Park resulting, with what could happen if we loaded those raptors with more testosterone. Or if one of the native parrots got hold of the testes, would we come out one day to find a 300 pound parrot on the balcony, saying, "Polly want a cracker - NOW!!"</p><p></p><p>Marg</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Marguerite, post: 299661, member: 1991"] I respect the theories of mineral deficiency and perhaps maggot hunting, but tis sounds to me exactly like a power play move. Chook size doesn't matter here, it always comes down to - can I beat that hen into being subservient to me? Presence of rooster or not makes little difference, I've seen hens push them around. I've even seen subordinate roosters imitate lower pecking order hens in order to avoid being beaten up. We had a young rooster that had to go, so we gave it to neighbours who were rooster-less. Our neighbour's hens scalped the young rooster, he got pulled out and segregated just in time. Once he was older and bigger (we called him Turkey) he grew to be a beautiful bird with a scar on his head. But when older he was able to rule the roost, but not well enouh to stay. We finally had to get rid of him, he was just too noisy. It will settle down. It's possible that Buttercup is unwell at the moment and Coco is smart enough to notice this. Flocking birds hide any ilness or infirmity, in order to avoid being attacked for it. But if it continues you probably need to remove either Coco or Buttercup for a while. You said they're young and you hatched them out. How sure are you of their gender? Also be aware - some hens can be hermaphrodites. We had some that had both sets of sex organs (we discovered on autopsy). We learned to despatch the roosters (because oterwise they would either fight to the death, or crow and disturb the neighbours) and a few times we found, on cleaning the chooks, ovaries AND testes. It was often these hermaphrodite birds that were the most aggressive. I had a neighbour, an old retired farmer, who gratefully accepted gifts of giblets etc. I took him these testes and he commented on the large size of them (compared to the small size of the bird they came from). He said he was nervous about what eating those testes would do to him, but was also nervous about feeding them to the magpies on his balcony. We envisaged Jurassic Park resulting, with what could happen if we loaded those raptors with more testosterone. Or if one of the native parrots got hold of the testes, would we come out one day to find a 300 pound parrot on the balcony, saying, "Polly want a cracker - NOW!!" Marg [/QUOTE]
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