Sudden aggression from hen to hen

[FinchGrinch]

I have four Societies, 2 male and 2 female. I also have two nests in the large cage that they are all in. Over the past two weeks they have all favored one nest over the other, all leaving the second nest empty. I have eggs in the nest they all frequent and at first I thought it was my fawn hen who laid the eggs, as she has been in the nest more than any of them. 7 eggs later and it appeared that only two birds at a time would be out of the nest, sometimes both males sitting then both hens sitting and a mix of male/female pairs sitting on the eggs. All seemed well. Yesterday I found 8 eggs in the nest, and at this point I felt like it should be time for me to break out the fake eggs. I do want some babies, however not 8 of them. So I replaced all but 3 of the eggs with fake eggs, adding more to the original count of eggs, to stop them from laying. So a total of 13 eggs are in the nest and everything seemed fine until tonight. The original fawn hen who I thought had laid the eggs is not being allowed back into the nest. The two males are sitting on the eggs along with the other hen. However as soon as the fawn hen tries to go back to the nest, the other hen chases her all over the cage and is very aggressive. To make things even more strange, after the chase was over, both hens took to the bird bath and seemed to get along just fine. The aggression seems to take place when the fawn wants to go back to the nest.

Now im beginning to think that maybe the other hen originally laid the eggs and not the fawn? I dont know but I didnt expect to see aggression from Societies. Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving!

John

[Babs _Owner]

FinchGrinch

As snuggly as societies can be they have their moments. I had the same problem recently.

One of two of my society cages I have his buddy Kojax & Brody with their two women who I recently allowed to have their first clutch as a group and raise them.
Two nests, they all chose one, they too chased the hen that laid 6 eggs out of the nest for a while. After about 5 days everyone settled into a routine with the hen that laid the eggs getting her full share of access.

You have 13 eggs so both hens are laying (be sure to check for more).

Societies love love LOVE eggs, babies and the excitment may have the males getting a wee bit bossy, and the other hen trying to steal all the glory. In the end, they will work it out peacefully as societies usually do and keep the "community" together.

Especially when the babies hatch, it becomes a big family event and every is invited to feed and love the little ones.

I wouldnt worry, it should pass soon.

PS Good job on you taking out eggs and replacing them with fakes, leaving only as many eggs as you can handle in chicks. Very smart move ;)

[FinchGrinch]

Thanks Babs! It may have been related to Thanksgiving "noise" and my teenagers staying up a bit later playing board games. Typically I cover the cage when the birds turn in and had left it uncovered longer than normal last night. As soon as I covered the cage, all commotion seemed to have stopped. I then chased the teenagers out of the room. A little later I peeked up under the cover and all 4 Societies were nestled in all tucked up together. All seems well so far this morning.

[FinchGrinch]

Well I guess I spoke too soon. The little Fawn hen is getting chased around the cage again this morning. Ill check later to see if there is indeed more eggs in the nest.

[FinchGrinch]

Shortly after the post above, the males came out and both females went in, the aggression stopped once again. Ahyee.. these birds are like my kids!

Both hens getting along sitting on the eggs.

[Sally]

Breeding can bring out a little aggression in even the most laid-back species, but it usually doesn't amount to much with Societies. They usually work it out, and often raise babies as a community effort.

[Babs _Owner]

FinchGrinch


Yay!! Societies are such good characters Your hens look so proud of themselves!