A bullied Easter Egger

[Ccort]

Sadie, my Easter Egger pullet, lives with 8other pullets. All the same age, all raised together. They live in a coop that connects to an enclosed run and also go into their chicken tractor for fresh grass anywhere from 1 hour a day to 4 or 5 hours a day.

Sadie is regularly bullied. She often has marks on her face from where others have pecked at her to get away. She is a healthy and young girl. When bullied, she runs and squawks and if I'm near, runs to me or even flies into my arms. I have become her saving grace, but am often not there.

It worries me more because the bullies a couple Barred Rocks and a Brahma. There is a considerable size difference. One of the other Easter Eggers bullies her too. I would say 3 or 4 don't.

If I were to separate the flock in half, it would be a huge ordeal because I would need another coop and run. Truthfully, I have a terrible time building what I have!

I try keeping them entertained. What other options do I have in order to try keeping the peace for her? These are pets.

 

[Pghelp]

From my experience, you need to disrupt the bullying before it becomes an ingrained habit and ruins your EE. I have an Americauna who was at the bottom of the pecking order. She was bullied by my Sapphire Gem and the Black Star Sex link she was raised with. Definitely the underdog. Unfortunately she was bullied and pecked enough that she became a bully herself. Seems she’s on a constant search to get higher on the pecking order. She actually beat up my oldest EE to the point she didn’t recover. I finally resorted to using Pinless Peepers on my Americauna and the Sapphire Gem. That interrupted the bullying behavior and the flock is fairly peaceful now. I said I would never resort to Pinless Peepers, but it was that or considering culling which truly was my last resort. Coincidentally the three hens worst at bullying are all three my best layers. The Sapphire, the Star sex link, and the Americauna are my most faithful layers which was another reason I didn’t want to lose them. You might also try chicken jail which helped temporarily for me and yours are young enough that it might work. I have a pet crate attached to a small hutch. If I catch one in the act of bullying, I scoop them up and put the bully in chicken jail. The prisoner has water, food, and a place to sleep and lay, and they’re fully visible to the flock but cannot peck anyone else. Good luck to you!

 

[Ccort]

From my experience, you need to disrupt the bullying before it becomes an ingrained habit and ruins your EE. I have an Americauna who was at the bottom of the pecking order. She was bullied by my Sapphire Gem and the Black Star Sex link she was raised with. Definitely the underdog. Unfortunately she was bullied and pecked enough that she became a bully herself. Seems she’s on a constant search to get higher on the pecking order. She actually beat up my oldest EE to the point she didn’t recover. I finally resorted to using Pinless Peepers on my Americauna and the Sapphire Gem. That interrupted the bullying behavior and the flock is fairly peaceful now. I said I would never resort to Pinless Peepers, but it was that or considering culling which truly was my last resort. Coincidentally the three hens worst at bullying are all three my best layers. The Sapphire, the Star sex link, and the Americauna are my most faithful layers which was another reason I didn’t want to lose them. You might also try chicken jail which helped temporarily for me and yours are young enough that it might work. I have a pet crate attached to a small hutch. If I catch one in the act of bullying, I scoop them up and put the bully in chicken jail. The prisoner has water, food, and a place to sleep and lay, and they’re fully visible to the flock but cannot peck anyone else. Good luck to you!

How long do you one in chicken jail?

 

[Pghelp]

Depends. I spend a lot of time in the backyard with my flock. I’ll incarcerate the bad hen for 2-3 days and then let her out and see what happens. If I catch her in the act of attacking and bullying then back she goes into chicken jail. My Americauna spent up to two weeks in there but she’s been a free bird for quite a while now.

 

[aart]

Are the spaces big enough for her to get away...like at least 4-6 feet away?
There will always be a low bird, you need to accommodate a flock with a large enough spaces that the pecking order can function without harm being done.

 

[Mrs. K]

Many people have just an open bare run. Where a bird can see every other bird 100% of the time. I wrote an article on a cluttered run that has seemed to help a lot of people make more use of the area they have.

In small flocks, this issue comes up pretty often, and really what you need to do is change something. Just wishing they would all be nice won't work, unfortunately. Being raised together has little influence on chickens behavior. Almost always, what was more than enough space when they were chicks, is not enough space for adults. Part time exposure to more space does nothing for behavior. They are not like dogs, if you take them for a walk, a dog will often calm down. The moment you put them back in a smaller space, the trouble occurs.

So they are the ideas most often proposed here:

• Bigger set up - more space, better laid out space, more roosts
• If you can't make the set up bigger, make the flock smaller - reduce by a bird or two. You don't have kill them or eat them, you can just sell them.
• Time outs - for the bullies or for the victim- sometimes this will work, often times it is a short term solution
• pin less peepers - you leave them on 5-8 weeks. Some people swear by them, some refuse to use them. If you can't use these, seriously consider reducing your numbers.

Show us some pictures of your set up.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/
Mrs K