High Drama in the Chicken House

Big Chickey and his girls

Big Chickey has been the head rooster in my flock since my sister gave him to me as a two year old in 2006.  That makes Big Chickey old for a chicken.  In 2009 I brooded a bunch of day old chicks I'd purchased from Murray McMurray Hatchery.  In that clutch of chicks was a Blue Laced Red Wyandot hen and rooster chick.  The Blue Laced Red Wyandot rooster grew up with Big Chickey and they seemed to get along all right. In August 2010 one of the white hens hatched two chicks. One was a hen and the other a rooster. I call him Booster Rooster. He also grew up with  Big Chickey.

Blue Laced Red Wyandot Rooster

Both the Blue Laced Red Wyandot rooster and hen were killed the summer of 2011. That left Booster and Big Chickey  as roosters in the flock and Big Chickey tolerated Booster most of the time.  The only time there seemed to be a problem was at dusk when the chickens would be going to their house to roost.  The chicken house has two rooms and Big Chickey roosts in most interior section along with most of the hens.  BC wouldn't let Booster into the Chicken house until all the hens were in and he had gone to roost. Then Booster could enter the house and roost in the room closet to the door with his hatch mate and one other hen.

Over the last month or so I've noticed that fewer and fewer hens are roosting with Big Chickey. They seem to prefer to roost with Booster.  Yesterday morning when I went into the chicken house to feed and water the flock, I found Big Chickey crouched down in a corner by the door with his head bent down. I often find a chicken who is dying in that attitude.  I checked to see if he was alive and he perked up a bit, but I thoroughly expected to find him dead when I came home last night.

When I returned home yesterday evening I was pleasantly surprised  to find Big Chickey all alone walking along the driveway. I've never seen him out by himself before but thought perhaps he'd gone looking for left over corn among the cows and was late getting back to the house.  All the other chickens including Booster had gone to bed.  I herded Big Chickey into the chicken house and shut the door. He immediately wanted out and about two second later Booster attacked him.

Buff Orpington Hen

It was obvious at that point that Booster had taken over and was determined to kill Big Chickey. I grabbed Booster by his tail and threw him out the door. Big Chickey retreated to the inner room where he roosts along with one red hen.  I put food and water out for the two of them and locked them in. Then I let Booster back in the first room where all the other hens were waiting to go to roost. 

This morning Big Chickey seemed fine though he looked a little bedraggled.  He and the hen spent the day in the in their room.  I kept the rest of the flock locked in the front room of the chicken house thinking it was best to keep eveyone in so they would all be equal in their confinement. This evening everyone was fine, but I don't dare let Big Chickey out with Booster yet.  Obviously Booster and the hens have decided, or they sense, that Big Chickey is on the way out, and rather than tolerate him the way he tolerated Booster, Booster has decided to do away with him.  This is the way of chickens.  If a hen or rooster shows weakness, the rest of the flock will kill the sick, hurt or old animal. Such is the law of the jungle - or at least the chicken coop!