You will often hear about mean hens and what to do about them. Isolation, rehoming and even culling are recommendations. But, I wouldn’t do any of those things to a pet. There are other options.
I have a mean hen, and her name is Puffin. The day I brought her home from the post office, she pecked me. She was two days old and I was taking her out of the shipping crate and she pecked me. I was smitten. Puffin got her name because of her puffy cheeks and her eye markings. At first she looked more like an owl to me, but then she became a puffin. She was easily identifiable from the other chipmunk chicks because her face was twice as wide, which made it easy to attach to her. She pecked me several times as a tiny chick, and it was just her thing. I laughed every time.
I had ten chicks because that’s how they were shipped from the hatchery, but I couldn’t keep them all in my small yard. I knew that I would have to rehome some of them. From the start I didn’t want to get attached to all the chicks to the same degree, because I would have to say goodbye to some and I am terrible at that. I seriously considered giving away Puffin, because I knew she would likely become a mean hen and peck the rest of the girls, if she didn’t turn out to be a cockerel. On the other hand, could I give someone a chick that I thought would be a bully to their flock? What would they do about her? Also, I think Puffin is my prettiest hen, even though nobody agrees with me and everyone has their favorite. That, and how much I love when she pecks me or tells me what’s what were reasons I decided she will be mine forever.
She did grow up to be a bully. She’s not the only poulet that I’ve seen pull out other poulet’s feathers, but she was the queen of plucking. She would grab a beakful of neck feathers and hold on. The feathers came out when the owner pulled away. When she did this I would scold her, and give her a timeout in a travel crate. Twice, she had to spend a night alone in the old coop.
I’m pretty sure that Puffin is my smartest hen, as well as my feistiest (and prettiest). And sometimes when there is a dispute the fault is mine. My chickens are great communicators, but I can be pretty slow at understanding. The first peck was obvious. “Put me down, you strange monster!” Other pecks were for the same reason, when she was a chick. We are not strangers now, and I can pet her and pick her up and she doesn’t peck me. But when she was tiny it was her way of communicating with me that she didn’t like what was happening. I love her for being so outspoken. So, why is my smartest hen picking on other hens, and in particular one hen? It’s because Speck is a jerk. With kids, there are always two involved in any spat. One may seem more culpable because they resort to violence first, but often the other one is the instigator.
Speck is obnoxious. She was the one hen I was sure I would get rid of, and not miss. I should have sent her away (up the block to my neighbor) but at the last minute I decided she was too attached to me. She went from whistling constantly as a chick, really non-stop, irritating whistling, to being the first to jump on my lap or shoulder and beg for attention whenever I went out to be with the girls. She’s also my mother’s favorite as the only one that will also jump on her lap. She stopped the whistling. But she is like a teacher’s pet, always pushing everyone else out of the way, stealing food and running away with it. She has no respect for the pecking order. In other words, she lacks social skills.
So, I had a long couple of talks with Puff-Puff. I explained to her that I believe her and that I totally agree. Speck is unbearable. But, Puffin won’t grab onto neck feathers any more. It’s not acceptable, and will result in a timeout and missing snacks. It took a few explanations and reminders when it seemed like she was ready to go on the attack, but praising her for a simple peck in Speck’s direction, and picking her up and giving her timeouts when she instead tried to grab feathers, was only half the solution. The other half was to make sure that Speck was not given any special treatment for her attention-seeking behavior. I gently push her away when she tries to get most of a treat, before the other hens. She is not one of my smartest hens and her training is ongoing.
Puffin is feisty. She pecks me now to tell me something is wrong, like the water dish needs washing or that it’s past snack time and there have been not enough snacks. They have always been gentle pecks, and I still adore them. I make sure that she knows that I love her. I also love Speck, but she is still annoying sometimes. It just took me looking at her the way another chicken would to understand the dynamic. What I find the most interesting is that these personalities were set in stone before I got these tiny chicks out of the shipping crate. But, luckily, their behaviors are not set forever. They just need the love and understanding given to a child and gently nudging in the right direction to be happy flockmates.
charmachicken.com 