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Banish Bad Behaviour!! How-to Have Harmonious Hens!!!

Banish Bad Behaviour!!

In general, chickens are social animals, living in peace and harmony. When a new bird is introduced, this harmony is temporarily disturbed as the hens squabble to sort out their pecking order. The pecking order is the heirachy by which chickens live. The hens have a little squabble, and the hen that wins is the dominant hen. She gets access to the food and water first, and can put any hen who dares confront her back in her place with a sharp peck. On the other hand, the lowest ranking hen gets to go to the food last, and can be pecked at by any hen. Because of this system, hens live in peace, but when the balance is upset, peaceful Poppy can turn into ferocious Frostie.

In this article, I will cover a few points of bad behaviour and give some tips on how to deal with it.


Excess noise

It is usually the cockerel who makes the most noise, while crowing, this can only be avoided by not keeping a cockerel. Cantrary to popular belief, it is not necessary to keep a cockerel to get eggs. The cockerel is only needed to fertilize eggs. Sometimes, a hen will make lots of noise, when she has layed an egg. If this is her habitual egg laying noise, it is not possible to stop her from making the noise, but a few steps can be taken to reduce the amount of noise she makes. These include:

  • Reduce boredom (see below)
  • Reduce stress
  • Practise good husbandry



Overcrowding and small pens can cause boredom, which often manifests itself as feather pecking in adults and foot pecking in chicks. Chickens are attracted to red, (which is why feeder bases are often red), so if blood is drawn cannibalism can be the result. You should always keep some genitian violet spray handy because this is antibiotic, and stains the wound purple, to stop the chickens from attacking the hen.

Boredom can be prevented or alleviated by;

  • Scattering grain over the ground to encourage them to forage ‘naturally’
  • Hanging up bunches of green leaves for them to peck at
  • purchasing, and hanging up blocks of seed



This often happens when two cockerels come in contact with each other. This is why cockerels should be kept apart. This takes place over hens, territory, etc.

Fighting can also be found with hens, when a new hen is introduced, for example. This is done to establish the pecking order. Once this is established and all the hens know where they stand, peace will return.

Egg eating is addressed here. Corresponding section highlighted pink.

Chickens respiratory system- science of breathing and lungs











Basic General Chicken Facts




Things to keep in stock for chicken keeping…

Below I have written a list of essenttials to keep in stock for poultry keeping. The first section covers day to day essentials that should be kept in stock, for disinfecting, treating, boosting, feeding etc.

Layers pellet or mash for grown  hens

Growers pellet or mash for growing hens

Chick crumbs for chicks aged 0-6 weeks

Disinfectant such as dettol which has the added benefit of being a red mite deterant.

Apple cider vinegar a booster

Grit to help chickens breakdown food

Crushed oyster shell, boosts calcium and avoids soft shelled eggs, can be mixed in with grit

Wormer to worm them


Coxoid for the treatment of coccidiosis

Hibiscrub to clean up wounds

Wound powder for minor wounds

Smite spray for red mite

Red mite powder



Note of the Month: September is Moulting Time

Now is moulting time. Chickens are losing their feathers to make way for new ones. The most intentensive moult takes place in september, but it often also occurs in August. Now, hens stop laying and concentrate their energy on changing their old, damaged no-longer-waterproof  plumage for new, waterproof, shiny feathers. Despite not laying, the hens still need the goodness of quality layers pellet or mash, and often benefit from a special moulting supplement. For those on a shoestring budget, a bottle of apple cider vinegar is a good investment, vinegar for birds health, your salad and chips!! Add the vinegar to the birds water at a percentage of one percent, maximum two percent. 


Sexing Partridge Wyandotte Chicks

Tips for sexing Partridge Wyandotte Bantams…


  • Darker plumage (from hatching to early juvenile moults )
  • Rounder wing feathers
  • Paler combs


  • Lighter in colouring (from hatching to first juvenile moult) from then on, orange slowly begins to appear, until they are actually darker than the girls
  • Thicker legs
  • Slower wing feather development

Partridge Wyandotte bantams can be sexed from hatching. Look at my story below.


I think you can sex Partridge wyandotte chicks from the instant they hatch.  The two sexes look very different from the beginning. One is  dark with ‘eyeliner’ the others are light with no eyeliner. I am doing an experiment to see if this is true, taking into account other sexing tips like;

* hens develop wing feathers faster than cockerels

* hens have paler combs than cockerels

*cockerels legs are (generally) thicker

* hens wing feather tips are more round.






By the end of the experiment, I will update and reveal the result.




All is now becoming clear. The eyelner chicks have very plain plumage and hardly any comb, so they are the females. The males are colouring up, their chests are growing a bit of golden and their combs and wattles are a telltale sign.


The latest images below show the growers after having gone through several juvenile moults.  They now have more adult like feathers. Also, my experiment worked. The ones with eyeliner have indeed turned out to be  girls.





Now the cockerels are no doubt cockerels, and have gone through more juvenile moults to reach a colour that is similar to their final colouring. The hens have grown and matured, but their plumage colour has not changed much.

One thing is for sure. You can sex Partridge Wyandotte Chicks from Hatching.
The darker ones with ‘eyeliner’ are girls!!

National Poultry Show, Stoneleigh!

It is coming round to that time of year again, the National poultry show, in November, at stoneleigh. This year, the show is held at the National Agricultural Centre, stoneleigh Nr coventry. Come and see one of the largest shows in Britain, on the 19th & 20th November 2011. There will be over 5,000 exhibits and over 130 breeds of bantams, large fowl, ducks, geese, and turkeys.

This is a very big attraction, remember to write it in your diary!!!

A chickens Brain- The Science

Did you know that chickens have a concept of the future?




Partridge Wyandotte Bantams


The wyandotte bantam

This version is lighter than its larger counterpart, therefore create less damage to flowerborders, manicured lawns and enclosures. Other than this, they are a replica of their large counterpart.

Cockerels weigh about 1.7kg while hens weigh around 1.3kg. Wyandotte bantams come in a similar array of colours, but my favourite must be partridge bantams.

Partridge wyandottes are very versatile. Like all other wyandottes, they are excellent egg producers, but are also a successful colour in the showring. Unlike colours such as whites and lavenders, they dont get dirty, but are still very pretty birds.

I recommend these birds for first time owners and first time exhibitors, but even if you have owned chickens for many years, these birds still make a delightful addition in any garden.

Wyandottes in general are strong, hardy, kind, easy to tame, good with children, good broodies, good mothers etc.