chicken bullying

[ncchickenlady03]

Im new chicken owner with four chickens, bought at 2 months old the beginning of april, so they are 6 months old now. The buff orpington has always been the smallest. we have 4 different breeds. Shes the last to come to food and water and the other birds seems to not be as shy and eat quicker and more. She does lay more than the other birds, one to two eggs a day. This past week she has been reluctant to come out of her nesting box. We have checked her ovuduct twice and felt nothing remarkable. She is still laying consistently. I was afraid she was going broody. We have a very large coop, I pulled her out of her box after she layed and put her in a large dog kennel slightly elevated preventing her to brood with her own food and water. She ate and drank well in the cage and did not brood. We would take her out of the cage at night and have her roost with the flock, and return her to her cage after laying. I was afraid she would stop laying if left to go broody. After the third day i came out to the coop to find she has some pecking injuries to her comb. Nothing severe, however its made her a target. I have been treating her comb with theracyn spray. Im afraid isolating her in her own cage will make reintroduction more hard. When I leave the cage door open, she will hide in corners of the coop or in the nest box. The other birds wont bother her in the box, but peck at her crop when she is out of it. Im afraid since shes smaller, and laying, she will get depleted of calcium and her bones will get fragile. Her comb has also always been a lighter pink than other birds and floppy. right now, its a bit bloody and what seems to be dry/ flaky. I have considered partitioning her in the coop with a water source that has pedialyte and her own food with calcium supplements. Besides her seemingly being afraid to be bullied, she eats and drinks fine when protected from the other birds and seems happy (once getting over being removed from her egg). Does anyone have any advice on improving the social dynamic of this flock so that she eats and drinks as much as the other birds and isnt as big of a target? Right now im treating her comb since the pecks and small visible blood/scabs have made her more of a target for pecking. There isnt a ring leader of the pecking. All of the other birds have periodically pecked her comb once if shes out of her cage or nesting box since its been bloody. I have considered partitioning the large run so that they cant peck through any cage at her, and both her and the other three birds have their own food and water source until her comb is healed.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

There's always a bottom bird. Your job is to provide places for her to get away. Things to get up on, under, and in.

The smaller the set up the more chance of aggression and bullying. How big is your coop and run? Chickens are busy creatures who need to stay busy all day or else they will find other ways to burn off energy.

 

[ncchickenlady03]

There's always a bottom bird. Your job is to provide places for her to get away. Things to get up on, under, and in.

The smaller the set up the more chance of aggression and bullying. How big is your coop and run? Chickens are busy creatures who need to stay busy all day or else they will find other ways to burn off energy.

its pretty big, 16 x 8 feet. i think she sustained the injury when i put her in a cage ( a large dog kennel) to break her brood before she stopped laying. I put her in with her own food and water and even though the cage was big and the coop is very big I think they may have pecked at her since she was isolated inside a cage inside the coop. Shes always been more shy, stays farther away from the other birds, and comes around food/ water when they arent or occupied elsewhere. I havent seen any bullying or pecking before. Shes just smaller, more skiddish, and submissive. I think her comb injury is making her a target for pecking right now because its bloody. I took the kennel out of the coop, and isolated her outside of it with her own food and water and putting on antiseptic to her crop a few times a day. I was looking into "toys" i can make to occupy the birds as well. they have a couple ramps to their nesting boxes, 6 plus bars to climb and perch, and i throw out scratch grain at appropriate ratios to their diet. I suppose i should find more things to keep them busy. Their wings arent clipped yet. Im not sure if its ok to clip them at 6 mo old. Letting them free range im sure would help keep them busy. I have no insight into letting them free range after living in a large coop for 6 months but I am open to doing it if possible still.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Size sounds good. Being they are 6 months old it could be hormonal surges. Are they laying yet? Sometimes they get a bit more concerned with the pecking order as they sexually mature. It generally calms down after a few weeks to months.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Shes the last to come to food and water and the other birds seems to not be as shy and eat quicker and more....She does lay more than the other birds, one to two eggs a day.....This past week she has been reluctant to come out of her nesting box....She is still laying consistently....When I leave the cage door open, she will hide in corners of the coop or in the nest box. The other birds wont bother her in the box, but peck at her crop when she is out of it....Im afraid since shes smaller, and laying, she will get depleted of calcium and her bones will get fragile....Besides her seemingly being afraid to be bullied, she eats and drinks fine when protected from the other birds and seems happy....I think her comb injury is making her a target for pecking right now because its bloody.

Can you post some photos of her and your set-up?
What type of food/treats do you feed?
Do you provide oyster shell free choice?
How do you feed - once or twice a day - feed is available during waking hours, etc.?

She lays 2 eggs a day?

Offering oyster shell free choice should help with any calcium depletion concerns. A bird that is laying consistently is generally not broody. It sounds like she is hiding from being bullied instead of broody. Since she happily eats/drinks while isolated, then consider adding another feed station. Even with only 4 birds - it sounds you may have a couple of strong willed birds that are dominating the food/water.

For her comb, if it's bloody - cover it with something like Blu Kote or Pick No More to help hide the wounds - blood is a pecking magnet.

For your run, provide a couple of perches that she can get on - this gets her up and away from the others - birds like to get on perches to preen during the day. For something to do - hang a cabbage, bundle of kale, apple, etc. in the run. A pile of leaves or pine needles added to the run gives them something to dig through and occupy their time.

That said - it sounds like you are doing what you can for her. BO's are fairly mild mannered and can be picked on at times.

Let us know how she is doing.

 

[ncchickenlady03]

Can you post some photos of her and your set-up?
What type of food/treats do you feed?
Do you provide oyster shell free choice?
How do you feed - once or twice a day - feed is available during waking hours, etc.?

She lays 2 eggs a day?

Offering oyster shell free choice should help with any calcium depletion concerns. A bird that is laying consistently is generally not broody. It sounds like she is hiding from being bullied instead of broody. Since she happily eats/drinks while isolated, then consider adding another feed station. Even with only 4 birds - it sounds you may have a couple of strong willed birds that are dominating the food/water.

For her comb, if it's bloody - cover it with something like Blu Kote or Pick No More to help hide the wounds - blood is a pecking magnet.

For your run, provide a couple of perches that she can get on - this gets her up and away from the others - birds like to get on perches to preen during the day. For something to do - hang a cabbage, bundle of kale, apple, etc. in the run. A pile of leaves or pine needles added to the run gives them something to dig through and occupy their time.

That said - it sounds like you are doing what you can for her. BO's are fairly mild mannered and can be picked on at times.

Let us know how she is doing.

These are all good suggestions! we have the Buff with the injured comb in her own large kennel with her own food and water during the day, and let her roost with her flock at night in the coop, lay in the nesting box in the morning, and return her to the kennel for the day while her comb heals. i couldnt find the blue spray at my local chicken store, but did get a poultry antiseptic to help it heal i have been applying as directed a few times a day. I plan on putting the feeders and water containers I bought for her kennel in the coop in addition to the ones already there when her comb is healed. I checked her for mites/ lice and couldnt find any her skin and feathers look very healthy except around her eye where the other birds pecked her. I also notices some white dry ness on the other birds combs and a small black spot on the tip of the combs of my barred rock. These didnt progress from yellow nodules, so I dont think its dry fowl pox. Its definitely not frostbite. Its hot here in carolina! They havent been vaccinated for foul pox though and we have alot of mosquitos. Do you recommend it just in case? they are seemingly healthy and i think they would withstand it well. They are eating well, laying fine, and their stools look normal and not too runny. I think im just dealing with some bullying and pecking from boredom. I have a cucumber from my garden in these pics i gave them this morning.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

You have a nice large space!

Poor dear - she is probably the most mild mannered of the bunch.
The Barred Rock - looks like a little nip to her comb and not Fowl Pox.
I'm in NC and have had one slight case of Fowl Pox and we have loads of mosquitoes - usually it resolves itself on it's own - there is a vaccine, but I don't know much about it.
One thing about Fowl Pox, once a bird has recovered from it, they are usually resistant.

It's hard to see all your roosting space in the coop - I don't know how much you have
Adding another roosting bar may help with some of the plucking as well. A lot of pecking can go on during roosting time.
One of my BO prefers to roost by herself - she always has, even in winter (she is not the lowest in pecking order either), the other one joins the others. So your girl may like a bar to herself.

I hope she heals up soon - BO are very sweet and one of my favorites.

 

[Rozzychick]

I need some advice. I had two groups, 4 and 3 more. They were 3 months apart. They integrated pretty well. The older 4 were always on top. After 14 months of living together they basically starved the bottom to death before I noticed. I always had multiple places to eat, the free range about 6 hours a day and have a good size coop. (12x14x8' tall)
Now they are working on the next on the bottom. She is so afraid to eat , I've had to syringe feed her. I went to the vet and the first one died from "failure to thrive", second one is technically healthy. I can't take out the bully, because it's 3 bullies. Even the third younger one gets in on bullying her sweet sister.
Do chickens get meaner when they turn 1? I had heard that roosters do.
Any advice is appreciated. I'm at my wits end.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I've not heard of a chicken actually starving to death, especially if you have multiple feeding stations. Sick chickens will often stop eating, so I would think there's something wrong with both to cause them to stop eating.

Young pullets will often get a bit more aggressive during their first laying season because of hormones but generally they calm down a few months after they start laying.

How big is your set up? A smaller set up will cause more territorial aggressive after sexual maturity.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I need some advice. I had two groups, 4 and 3 more. They were 3 months apart. They integrated pretty well. The older 4 were always on top. After 14 months of living together they basically starved the bottom to death before I noticed. I always had multiple places to eat, the free range about 6 hours a day and have a good size coop. (12x14x8' tall)
Now they are working on the next on the bottom. She is so afraid to eat , I've had to syringe feed her. I went to the vet and the first one died from "failure to thrive", second one is technically healthy. I can't take out the bully, because it's 3 bullies. Even the third younger one gets in on bullying her sweet sister.
Do chickens get meaner when they turn 1? I had heard that roosters do.
Any advice is appreciated. I'm at my wits end.

Hi @Rozzychick I'm sorry to hear you're having trouble.
Can you post some photos?
I agree with @oldhenlikesdogs it would be hard for a chicken to starve to death with multiple feeders and free range.
What type of food do you provide in your feeders?
When you visited the vet - did they perform any testing for worms, bacterial infection or coccidiosis?
The hen that died - did she lay eggs, were they normal or did you notice any problems?

There can be many reasons for losing weight - since you have another that seems to be declining, have her poop tested to rule out internal parasites. Look for any mites/lice infestation, check her crop to make sure it's emptying overnight and feel her abdomen for any bloat/swelling or feeling of fluid. How are her eggs - are they normal?

If she is very thin - then you may need to separate her out to see that she is eating and drinking well - this is a good time to observe her behavior. Offer her normal feed along with some chopped egg for added protein. It won't hurt to give her some poultry vitamins a couple of days a week - these can be put in the water or you can direct dose her with something like Poultry Nutri-Drench.

Keep us posted.