Aggressive Black Sexlink

[mueri07]

Hey y'all, i have three chickens total two laying hens and one that is maybe 3-4 months. the little on is a silkie and is getting picked on by the one hen the black sex link. she always pecks her and when they are on the roost she pecks her some more. What can i do to get he to stop and leave her alone?

Thanks

 

[sourland]

Big chickens pick on smaller chickens. It's the nature of their social order. As long as she is not drawing blood, there is no reason for concern. Separation or the use of Pin Less Peepers might correct the situation.

 

[micstrachan]

I agree, as long as she'snot getting hurt, it's OK. Can she get away and hide from the bully safely?

 

[chickens really]

Like the saying goes....Birds of a feather flock together..Possibly does not like her silkie feathers....

 

[lazy gardener]

How big is your coop? do you have 2 roosts? If not, perhaps you can set up a separate roost so the silkie can roost away from her tormentor. If you have a small coop, it's not possible for the silkie to retreat far enough from this bully to satisfy pecking order protocol. If this is the case, I would rehome the silkie. If you take out the bully, most likely an other will rise to take her place.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I find certain breeds are a bit more prone to aggressive behavior. My Black Sex Links are like this too.
I keep my bantams apart from them now.

In very small flocks it can be impossible for the picked on to get away far enough.

Look at your space and be creative in giving her things to hide behind and get up on to.

I keep a piece of plywood leaned up in my run these days. I secured it to the wire so it cannot blow over.
Even then it won't be a fun existence for the silkie. Having to constantly run and hide is no way to live.

My BSL start crap and my older Brahma steps in now days. Of course the ruckus makes my old bantam in the other coop holler which always brings me out of the house. Then I carry the bully around for a bit. She hates that.

 

[mueri07]

I mean the coop is fairly small maybe 8 by 8, I have an attached run that is prob 10 by 10 so they have room to run around, the older chick just doesn't leave her alone. I put a second and third roost in their coop so she could roost on her own. I just hope she gets bigger fast so she can defend herself. I feel bad for her, it seems like she is stressed out and always running from this bully!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm not sure exactly what is going on. I think you only having three chickens and the age difference could be the causes. How long have you had that Silkie? If she is new that could be part of the problem.

Until they mature enough to force their way into the pecking order it's pretty natural for a mature chicken to peck an immature chicken if their personal space is violated. Some are a lot worse than others about this. This is pretty likely to continue until that Silkie starts to lay, that's usually when they mature enough to force their way into the pecking order.

Chickens are social animals, they like to be with other chickens. It's quite possible that Silkie being alone is trying be close to the others but that triggers the pecking response. I have immature chickens in my flock all the time and I almost never see this behavior during the day, but they have others their age to hang with.

Mine are most vicious toward each other at night as they are settling down to sleep. They may be able to mingle during the day but some can get quite mean at night. My immature ones pretty quickly learn to not sleep anywhere near the adults. They sleep together somewhere else.

Some chickens can be worse bullies than others. I've seen a grown hen leave her normal spot on the roosts and walk to the back corner where the immature ones are sleeping to peck them. Each hen has her own personality. This doesn't happen all the time but it's not totally uncommon.

So what can you do. If she Is not being injured you can let it go. They may work it out. At night you can try putting her on another roost after dark and see if she will stay there or if that hen goes after her over there. If she becomes injured that changes things. You'll have to make some decisions about which to keep or isolating her until she starts to lay.


Next time don't just add one. You could add another pullet her age and see how that affects things. It may help, it may not.