Are my chickens getting beat up by the flock?

[Jesse4216]

Hi Everyone, thanks for reading.

I have 13 RIR chickens in my flock. I had an original 8 and then added 4 more last summer. The integration I thought went well and they were fine all winter.

This spring, I noticed that the 4 I added last year are smaller than the rest and look horrible. The original 8 look great but the newer 4 look like they are molting all the time. I am thinking they are stressed? I never see any fighting and they mostly all get along from what I noticed. Sometimes I see some hens biting the back of the heads on the newly added 4 hens. Some of the 4 have missing feathers in the back of their heads from the biting I presume.

I have multiple waterers and feeders so there is always plenty of food. I do not have a rooster.

I attached some photos of the worse looking hen from the newly added 4 group. Any suggestions? Do I need to separate them? Thanks so much for any advice offered!

 

[Judy]

More space, more protein in the diet, and more activities (things to jump on, hide under, roost on, etc.; move them about as well) are traditional remedies. Adding animal protein may also be helpful. Looks like they are definitely at the bottom of the pecking order. If you can identify a lead "bully," you can remove her for a wekk, out of sight or hearing of the flock, then reintroduce. In this way, they will treat her like a "new chicken," at the lower end of the pecking order. If you can't identify an individual, there are some things you can try, but this is a difficult problem to deal with. A sort of "last ditch" effort is applying Pinless Peepers. See the links below.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/back-to-basic-living-feather-picking-plucking-and-cannibalism

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/697052/i-think-i-found-a-miracle-cure-for-feather-picking

 

[Jesse4216]

Thanks so much Judy, I'll give your suggestions a try. Thanks!

 

[Peeps61]

Yes, they do look like life might be a bit difficult from time to time. Do you free range your birds at all? I find that when my hens free range, even though I may lose one now and again to a predator, that they are overall more harmonious. I have two RIR's and the rest are a mixed flock. My two cochins are at the bottom of the pecking order right now, and they look fine. They have "their own space" for most of the day, so it works well.

I realize free ranging is not a possibility in some situations, but it works well for me.

 

[Jesse4216]

Yes, thanks for your answer. I do free range. They have an entire field to themselves.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

More space, more protein in the diet, and more activities (things to jump on, hide under, roost on, etc.; move them about as well) are traditional remedies. Adding animal protein may also be helpful. Looks like they are definitely at the bottom of the pecking order. If you can identify a lead "bully," you can remove her for a wekk, out of sight or hearing of the flock, then reintroduce. In this way, they will treat her like a "new chicken," at the lower end of the pecking order. If you can't identify an individual, there are some things you can try, but this is a difficult problem to deal with. A sort of "last ditch" effort is applying Pinless Peepers. See the links below.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/back-to-basic-living-feather-picking-plucking-and-cannibalism

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/697052/i-think-i-found-a-miracle-cure-for-feather-picking

X 2 - a few adjustments and hopefully you can get it under control.

 

[Peeps61]

When you free range your hens, do they have places they can hide or get under to get away from bullies? Mine have all kinds of stuff (farm equipment and the like), so that might help as well.

 

[Jesse4216]

Thanks for the replies. I don't have much in the field, maybe I'll try adding more places to hide as well. Thanks!