Legbar gone mad

[Hei-hei]

Hi all!

I have a beautiful and very snuggly cream legbar hen (Maizey) who absolutely hates one of my other chickens. My poor little white silkie (Butterbean) gets penned down and her head plucked bald and scalp injured every time they are near each other.

She nearly scalped my little fluffy friend a couple months ago. Butterbean lived in my laundry room for several weeks while healing.

So far, I have tried separating them. I kept my silkie safe in a crate inside the run to re-integrate after she was hurt. Maizey attacked again. So, I put Miss Maizey in a crate inside the run for a few days, didn’t work. I have tried pinless peepers, didn’t work. I now have her in a crate on my deck.

Maizey does not attack any of my other hens. She leaves the chicks alone. She leaves the other silkies alone. But poor little Butterbean is a target and she isn’t even at the bottom of the pecking order.

What can I do??? These are literally my 2 favorite chickens.

 

[Rose the Legbar]

You may need to make a whole separate flock with your silkie hen or rehome her as she isn’t accepted within your flock anymore. Sometimes bantams don’t do well at all in a flock of standard sized hens due to being smaller and getting picked on. If you remove your legbar, another hen may take the lead role and continue to pick on the silkie. You could try pinless peepers on your legbar but it may not work.

 

[Hei-hei]

She isn’t picked on by any of my other hens. Just the legbar. … when I lock Maizey up there are no problems.

 

[lomine]

You could try separating Maizey away from the flock for a longer period of time (at least a week) and where she can't be seen. When she gets reintroduced, she has to worry about reestablishing her role in the flock order.

Or totally weird idea, you could try dying your silkie. You said Maizey doesn't bother the other silkies. Are they also white? Dye the silkie a color close to that of the others and it might help her from standing out.

 

[Hei-hei]

You could try separating Maizey away from the flock for a longer period of time (at least a week) and where she can't be seen. When she gets reintroduced, she has to worry about reestablishing her role in the flock order.

Or totally weird idea, you could try dying your silkie. You said Maizey doesn't bother the other silkies. Are they also white? Dye the silkie a color close to that of the others and it might help her from standing out.

I’ve got her in chicken jail again… further away and longer this time for sure!

I actually thought about dying Butterbean! My other two are black silkies. Not sure how I could dye her that color though.

 

[lomine]

There are pet safe dyes. You could go with a dark blue or purple. Also found this black one on Chewy. I have never used any dyes so don't have any personal experience with this brand.

Black Dye- pet safe

 

[Hei-hei]

There are pet safe dyes. You could go with a dark blue or purple. Also found this black one on Chewy. I have never used any dyes so don't have any personal experience with this brand.

Black Dye- pet safe

Thanks! I’ll check it out!