why is my hen bullying the silkie hen?

[Cole405]

One of my hens keeps attacking my other hen! The other hen is a silkie. She attacks the silkie more than the others.

 

[Ivy99]

Silkies are smaller and more vulnerable as other chickens, but can get along fine with larger hens if they have others of their breed. If your silkie is the only one and looks completely different from everyone else they will attack her because she looks like an outsider. If you get more silkies the attacking should stop and if it doesn't it's the hens fault not yours. Another solution would be to get a rooster; they keep peace among there flock unlike a lead girl, but they have there own problems so I would just get some more adorable silkies XD

 

[shadow rabbit10]

I agree. When you have a flock of "regular" looking chickens, having a stranger looking one such as a Silkie or Polish may cause aggression simply because they look different (they're not the most accepting creatures!). Plus, Silkies are slow and can be pushovers. I recommend getting one or two more. Or three. Or four... Haha. Or as Ivy99 suggested, a rooster.

 

[Cole405]

I have 3 silkies.

 

[shadow rabbit10]

Really? Then it's possible she may just be last on the pecking order and they enjoy bullying her. If it's just one hen that consistently attacks her, you can try taking the "bully" and isolating her in her own carrier/area for a while. This may cause the bully to drop a few spots on the pecking order. Just a warning: if you do this, you could possibly have issues with your other hens attacking the bully once she is returned to the flock. But, it would take a few days of doing this to cause a problem. This is the best advice I can give. Someone with more experience with this issue can probably help you out more.

 

[Cole405]

Thanks!