I’ve recently noticed that Snowball has not been her chipper self. I found out today why. LuLu has been pecking her. This morning, LuLu sliced Snowball’s comb open. Snowball is now in the chicken “spa” getting peace, quiet, warmth and antibiotic cream on her head. LuLu has been banished to the HenCam barn where there are large and bossy chickens who don’t put up with such nonsense. Eggers and Betsy Ross have been moved to the big barn, to keep the little girls safely away from bully LuLu.

If LuLu persists on pecking the hens’ heads, she will be banished. I don’t tolerate hen-on-hen aggression. I have solved this problem in the past by moving chickens around. I hope it works this time. LuLu is a character, who should be fun to have around.

LuLu was one of a batch of pullets given to my chicken group here in town. They were raised from chicks as part of a education program on a city farm. Interestingly, every one of them has behavior issues – a few that ended up at a friend’s coop killed one of her longtime, lovely, placid hens. These gift hens were handled a lot by many different children. I guess that not all socializing is good. Puppies can get aggressive if handled too roughly, and I think that applies to hens, too.