Forcing chickens to be friends

[Jenjens]

I have tried isolating the bullied chicken, isolating the bully, but nothing works. Cinnamon is holding a grudge. Luna has been isolated for freaking months and is ruining my garage. When they are supervised, Luna the victim runs and hides from cinnamon which gets the attention of the others who then peck her and she squats and here comes cinnamon to remind her to never mess with her again and jumps on her back. Then they all jump in. When this happens, she immediately gets taken to time out.

Luna is older and small and she has already been rehomed. That would be too stressful for her. Will not cull. We have male ducks so she can't even be separated through the gate because that is where the ducks are ,and if you have male ducks you know why.

Is there any way they can both be isolated in the garage and they just deal with each other for a while and maybe become friends? Sounds stupid but it's another option


Help please

 

[21hens-incharge]

Isolated together they will likely still have issues.

You may have to do a small coop and run for miss meanie.

 

[nuthatched]

Yes didn't work.

For how long? Where the others still attacking without her around?

 

[21hens-incharge]

Can you post pics of your coop and run?

We may be able to brainstorm another option for segregation.

 

[nuthatched]

For 2 days only because I ended up with 2 sick chickens that needed that space. The others wouldn't bother her other than regular pecking.

Rehome or remove the instigator for a much longer time.

 

[Shadrach]

I have tried isolating the bullied chicken, isolating the bully, but nothing works. Cinnamon is holding a grudge. Luna has been isolated for freaking months and is ruining my garage. When they are supervised, Luna the victim runs and hides from cinnamon which gets the attention of the others who then peck her and she squats and here comes cinnamon to remind her to never mess with her again and jumps on her back. Then they all jump in. When this happens, she immediately gets taken to time out.

Luna is older and small and she has already been rehomed. That would be too stressful for her. Will not cull. We have male ducks so she can't even be separated through the gate because that is where the ducks are ,and if you have male ducks you know why.

Is there any way they can both be isolated in the garage and they just deal with each other for a while and maybe become friends? Sounds stupid but it's another option


Help please

Could you post a picture of all your hens?
A rooster might put a stop to this but a rooster may not be something you want or can keep.

 

[Shadrach]

I have a large ass rooster that doesn't do squat when the attacks happen. When I grab the bully for time out he actually attacks me. I have 10 hens. No pictures of them right now all at once. I have a Delaware (which also hates Luna) barred rocks, easter egger. Orpington, Americana, a home grown mix, and a brahma (rooster) the big bully is actually my sweet girl isa brown.

What I would be looking for is something the other hens have in common that the victim does not; size, colouring, anything that makes her different from the others. With such a mixture it might be hard to see.

EDIT.
ISA brown/sex link I would say is the problem. You've got a high production breed in with a bunch of heritage breeds.

 

[NatJ]

I have tried isolating the bullied chicken, isolating the bully, but nothing works. Cinnamon is holding a grudge. Luna has been isolated for freaking months and is ruining my garage. When they are supervised, Luna the victim runs and hides from cinnamon which gets the attention of the others who then peck her and she squats and here comes cinnamon to remind her to never mess with her again and jumps on her back. Then they all jump in. When this happens, she immediately gets taken to time out.

This article has some ideas that might be helpful:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/chicken-bully-chicken-victim-a-two-sided-issue.73923/

The biggest detail I see in that article, that is not present in your setup, is to put the victim in a place where she is safe but can still see the flock. Not separated in the garage (so she is a stranger when she goes back), but right next to the flock (so she gets used to being there, visible but safe, and eventually is confident in the presence of the other chickens.)

The author of that article is regularly active on this site and quite knowledgeable about chickens, so I would be inclined to trust what the article says about it working in that person's flock. I have not personally tried what that article describes, and of course I can't say for sure whether it will work in your flock or not-- but it might be worth at least considering.

 

[Jenjens]

This article has some ideas that might be helpful:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/chicken-bully-chicken-victim-a-two-sided-issue.73923/

The biggest detail I see in that article, that is not present in your setup, is to put the victim in a place where she is safe but can still see the flock. Not separated in the garage (so she is a stranger when she goes back), but right next to the flock (so she gets used to being there, visible but safe, and eventually is confident in the presence of the other chickens.)

The author of that article is regularly active on this site and quite knowledgeable about chickens, so I would be inclined to trust what the article says about it working in that person's flock. I have not personally tried what that article describes, and of course I can't say for sure whether it will work in your flock or not-- but it might be worth at least considering.

I absolutely agree but the ducks are there so she has nowhere else to go. I have tried putting the ducks away for like 5 hours so they have the entire yard but she so badly still yearns to be with them and ends up getting hurt. She just sits on the deck and doesn't go near them so they don't even know she is there

 

[McChooky]

What I would be looking for is something the other hens have in common that the victim does not; size, colouring, anything that makes her different from the others. With such a mixture it might be hard to see.

EDIT.
ISA brown/sex link I would say is the problem. You've got a high production breed in with a bunch of heritage breeds.

I had a similar problem and separated my heritage breeds from my leghorns