2 chicken flock and one is a bully

[Thomas Lamprogiorgos]

Salt??

Yes, there is a special salt for chickens and some other minerals that stop cannibalism and bully behavior.
Also, always bear in mind that RIR, RIW and NH are very aggressive and competitive to other chickens and if you use red sex links, you use a chicken which combines the aggressive behavior of all these breeds.
Sweet and docile to people, but...
Especially, rhode island red hens are so mean!!!

 

[4 ever Orpington]

Hi All,

I have been "spying" for almost a year now but now I need some help and would love some advice.

I had a flock of 2 Golden Comets when I started in June of 2017. They both got along really nicely. Unfortunately one of them died in March. I didn't want her to be alone so I got a Welsummer. After one of two pecks she was the head mistress and that was that. Unfortunately my other Golden Comet died a few weeks ago and now my Welsummer was alone. So again I got a new chicken this time a Delaware (both the Welsummer and the Delaware come from the same farm and are the same age) I introduced them according to all the tips I read on this wonderful site. Since Saturday they share my Elgu Go up (3 meter run) The Delaware is now the Alpha, she is beautiful and friendly to me but a bully to my Welsummer. She won't let the Welsummer eat or drink without a nasty peck and some serious chasing. I placed another feeder and waterer in the coop/run (on the opposite side) hoping that this will help. Unfortunately so far it hasn't. I don't think that putting the bully in the Penalty box will help because I only have 2 chickens. Any tips? Or do I just have to be more patient?

I find most fighting is over feed even if you had it in multiple locations. What work me is a wire partition raised high enough to slide one edge of it for the second bird to also be able to eat from the same feeder. The dominant bird will then get used to a meal partner in a short time span. Good luck

 

[aart]

Yes, there is a special salt for chickens and some other minerals that stop cannibalism and bully behavior.

'Special' and 'other minerals' should be described fully with dosages...
....or folks will be giving their birds copious amounts of table salt to combat bullying.

 

[Esther1338]

Set up some mini walls, just pieces of plywood, where the bird can get out of sight of each other. Set them up so as while feeding at one spot, a bird cannot see another bird feeding at the other spot.

Make sure your walls are not traps, but can be exited two ways.

Most small set ups I have seen have just a small bare rectangle for the run. Adding some roosts, some platforms, some hideouts make it much more interesting to the birds. Get some junk in there to make it hard to chase, easy to escape, and I think it will settle down.

If not go back to where you got these birds and see if you can exchange for a pair that does get along.

Mrs.K

I made the partition wall as you suggested it did help. Also my run has a roost and since it’s a tractor run I move it around every few days. I added a chicken swing and a cd mirror too. Yesterday I sat with the chickens for a few hours and squirted water on my bully every time she was mean. I think she got the idea her behavior was not acceptable because she calmed down a bit. This is clearly work in progress but I am hopeful

 

[chickengeorgeto]

That's exactly what I was thinking. Get a third hen and the bully won't be able to concentrate on picking on any one individual hen. That and the integration process already mentioned earlier in this thread.

That is some peoples' rational for marrying 4 women.

When applied to chickens it goes something like this, one hen is insufficient, two hens will squabble among themselves and attempt to draw the rooster into the fracus, three hens will result in a 2 - 1 split with the single hen the odd one out, but 4 hens will supposedly result in a 2 - 2 split in which case the rooster can play off both ends against the middle. Some of you gentlemen tell me how that is working out in your life.

 

[Thomas Lamprogiorgos]

'Special' and 'other minerals' should be described fully with dosages...
....or folks will be giving their birds copious amounts of table salt to combat bullying.

Well, just a bit salt, even the salt we humans use, for 1-2 days is enough.
I use an oil to their combs too to treat their wounds.
It is made from a plant that was used by Celtic warriors.

 

[techbsmith]

That is some peoples' rational for marrying 4 women.

When applied to chickens it goes something like this, one hen is insufficient, two hens will squabble among themselves and attempt to draw the rooster into the fracus, three hens will result in a 2 - 1 split with the single hen the odd one out, but 4 hens will supposedly result in a 2 - 2 split in which case the rooster can play off both ends against the middle. Some of you gentlemen tell me how that is working out in your life.

Well - I only had 1 wife. She was the bully in the flock and as a responsible Roo, I couldn't cull her or control her - so I left the flock. It never dawned on me to get a couple more wives! Maybe I aint the smartest Roo.....

 

[BY Bob]

In my observations with chickens over two years. Threes better than two.
I had 5 hens, lost two earlier this year.
The Alfa hen pecks the lowest, but only at snack time as in tossing seeds on the ground.
She never picks the middle hen.
When not snacking, the middle hen hangs with the lowest hen.
So the lowest hen has a buddy.View attachment 1446904.
So I recommend at least three hens minimum for an outdoor flock. GC

We had only two hens for quite a while. We kept having to replace one. Sometimes it went smooth but most of the time it was hard to watch. The last time we replaced we got a pair and went up to three. Essentially got a "spare" chicken. A flock of three is much more at peace. The number 3 hen has a friend to hang with should the alfa be a real bully.

We recently lost our alfa hen. It took a while for the flock to reestablish and number 2 did become number 1 but it was bloodless. Having 2 hens remaining gives us time to think through how we want to replace our loss. Not having to make a quick decision was a luxury for us. I highly recommend that a minimum size flock is 3.

 

[Krazyquilts]

We had only two hens for quite a while. We kept having to replace one. Sometimes it went smooth but most of the time it was hard to watch. The last time we replaced we got a pair and went up to three. Essentially got a "spare" chicken. A flock of three is much more at peace. The number 3 hen has a friend to hang with should the alfa be a real bully.

We recently lost our alfa hen. It took a while for the flock to reestablish and number 2 did become number 1 but it was bloodless. Having 2 hens remaining gives us time to think through how we want to replace our loss. Not having to make a quick decision was a luxury for us. I highly recommend that a minimum size flock is 3.

I too recommend a flock minimum of three. Four is even better, especially if one is getting chicks. But five is nice too, or six. Or twenty.

 

[BY Bob]

I too recommend a flock minimum of three. Four is even better, especially if one is getting chicks. But five is nice too, or six. Or twenty.

We just ordered 4 chicks. Chicken math has caught us. The plan is to try to wind up with 4 total but my dear wife is already waffling. Don't tell her but the coop and run were designed to hold up to 10. I have heard too many chicken math stories to not prepare for the future.