Chicken bully/chicken victim - a two-sided issue

I think you are spot on. I removed the bully and got no results when she got back. But after removing the bullied she came back into the coop and things are going well. Sometimes punishment of the bullies is not the key but safe refuge for the victim is what it takes. I look forward to reading more info by you since I am a newbie to raising my backyard flock.

As I was reading this article I was thinking it was very observant and well written. Then I reached the part that said the azygous flock was peaceful again... I should have known it was her! Yet once again... great information! I recently had discovered the benefits of putting a bullying victim in a "refuge"... as I recently had a bunch of cockerels in lock down adjusting to their new living quarters and flock mates, did result in a couple of wonderful boys taking more than they could mentally deal with and staying in a corner or instantly retreating to a corner after handling. Even with extra feeders and such, I could tell a couple boys were hungry still. When put into refuge they ate up and relaxed a bit. Thank you for continuing to share your many insights!

I have yet to get chickens, but I'm glad I know what to watch for. I love your comment, "It's how chickens roll...."

A bully pen is not often mentioned in coop/ run construction, but it should be. Closing off the end of your run is invaluable. Great article , a little long for me , but I get the point

i also feel that after looking for issues a Bully chicken is not always at complete fault for bad / peace disrupting behavior.

You have a beautiful set up. I have a side pen for a Drake, I call it his apartment. Because jail sounds like punishment to me and visitors. He has an apartment for time to adjust his thinking, behavior or just let some extra hormones run their course. I will include either a condo or sanctuary in future coop projects as well

Great job!

We have our old(very small) coop just lying around, and I use it to introduce new hens. This is a new idea for it!

We have three coops now. Besides our main coop, we have a rabbit hutch as a retirement coop for our two oldest chickens who are bantams and eventually started getting picked on, and one is for anyone who needs chicken jail. I wish that we had this set up though! Then they are at least kind of together. I agree that it would be especially nice with hatching and integrating chicks into the flock. I wish I had thought of this when my husband was building my large coop!

Great article, may have to use this method. I have a Black Copper Marans and a Barnevelder that are smallest in my flock of 8 and they always hang on the outside, waiting for the others to finish eating. The others just give them a peck occasionally for no apparent reason, I feel bad for them, seems like they both have no confidence.

Can't wait to try it. I've removed the bully but never the victim since I was afraid they'd go lower on the pecking order. Back with the flock every night is a great idea, too.

I gave my naughty girl a time out the other day and it seemed to work. Glad to hear that i was on the right track!

I have never had to try something like this but I will if I ever need it ! Very good advice IMHO. I will be building a"jail" soon !

Going to do this tonight for one of my hens at the bottom of the pecking order. Great information as I always get on this site!

I notice that my former victim with the original flock of grown hens is also the biggest bully to the newly integrated pullets -- she's terrible! She was also the only hen who chased and pecked our cats. I've taken to "cuddle therapy" where she gets extra time with me either sitting on my lap, or riding on my shoulder. She was never a big cuddler, but now she flies up into my arms and burrows her head into my neck.

She's the only hen that I allow in my vegetable garden now, so she has some peace away from the "Mean Girls" and doesn't have to act tough with the "Littles" either.

Great article. Thank you.

Excellent column. I haven't had a real bullying issue yet. I had a Isa Brown who was part of an old layer flock I sold. She was bullying my new Silver Wyandottes but it was an easy fix as I was selling the Isa Brown anyway. So it wasn't an issue but when I run into an issue with hens I'm keeping. This column will be invaluable information. Thanks for taking the time to share.

I placed a bird who was being bullied (instead of the other way around) in an adjacent pen for a short time and while I didn't do it long enough to see behavioral change, the poor picked-on girl relaxed quite a bit. (I gave her lots of extra love too, which she seemed to appreciate.) The idea of giving the victim a break makes a lot of sense. I plan to experiment further with this idea. Thanks for this article!

Your advice is something I have never heard of before. And since you have had 100% success rate, I am definitely going to try that next time!