3 yr old Buff getting bullied by entire flock.

[Lelilamom]

My 3 yr old Buff is getting bullied / pecked / ganged up on by the entire flock of 27 birds, 2 yr olds, 1 yr olds and 9 wk old chicks. We have a very large fenced in area for them - 150ft by 100 ft and no matter where she runs in that area, they run after her, jump on her and peck her.

I've blu-kote'd her head and neck to heal her wounds, but they keep at her. If I'm in the area with them, she runs up to me and jumps into my arms for shelter. This has been going on for a year now. I've separated her into an adjacant pen for weeks, I've separated her into a dog crate in the coop itself, I've let her roam free outside the coop and fence. Nothing seems to resolve this issue. She still lays reliably.

Do I rehome her at this point to save her life?

 

[SpaceCowboyT48]

If she's a reliable layer and she isn't too much of a pest, leave her out. They're social creatures, and she will get lonely, so if you can, schmooze with her. I sic the daughter on them. the daughter is a natural schmoozer. I had a Buff Orpington, Henrietta, that the others were tearing apart, couldn't leave her in the run. She became a pet. She even hatched out a brood on the outside. The wife is not a big fan of chickens loose in the back yard, but only one isn't that destructive. Henrietta did meet an untimely death, coyote, so that is something to keep in mind. I should have kept her in the fenced yard, but she found the front yard just too tempting.

I just realized my avatar is Henrietta in the front yard.