Are they picking on her??

[klace08]

I had my big prize chubby girl go broody about a month ago. It lasted 4-6 weeks, and she's finally back out in the yard. We did what we could to de-brood, we threw her out of the coop continuously, etc. In any case, she lost SO MUCH weight. She's the skinny girl now. And today I noticed she's missing a ton of feathers! She's missing a good 2x2 inch patch on the back of her neck- so she cant be doing it to herself?? I've seen the other girls peck at her before when she goes to see what they're scratching at.... but are they de-feathering her?? This isnt molting is it? What do i do?? (Took pictures, cant figure out how to upload them?)

 

[Ruth Ann]

I don't know...but I hate when they pick on each other.
I always scold mine when they do.

 

[Lesa]

Probably not much you can do... That pecking order is natural, but hard for us humans to understand!

 

[Cheep]

I have the same as question, but my girl, Sunny, sometimes has dried blood in the area. She looks quite bedraggled, which I initially put down to the constant rain lately, but I think I saw on this site that if blood is being drawn, something should be done.

Sunny is mostly white Leghorn, & the flightiest of all. It won't be easy to either clean off her neck, or isolate her at night - which are the 2 options I can think of.

Her behavior is fine - I just watched her this morning and she is not afraid of the other 5, she's out scratching happily away.

My best guess as to cause: When I don't get out to the coop at daybreak, I think there's a bit of squabbling & probably Sunny gets the worst of it. 95% of the time, I wake at daybreak & open their coop door & they drowsily stumble out.
If I am later than, say 7:30 am, they start getting noisier & noisier, & they tumble over each other in the rush to get out & start eating & drinking. (Thought: they sleep in a fairly small coop with no food or water in it, just straw & shavings).
Today it was my day off & I slept til 8:30, so I'm feeling a bit guilty. Her neck has clearly been pecked, & their was old dried blood (I can say "old" because it was pink, I imagine from yesterday's rain diluting it).

They free-range all day in my back yard, & I don't see any real problems then, just the occasional chasing someone (different ones) away & short squawk by the chasee.

Should I make a priority out of enlarging the coop? I can't walk in it; it's elevated about 4' off the ground & is about the size of a very large dog house.

 

[Cheep]

I have the same as question, but my girl, Sunny, sometimes has dried blood in the area. She looks quite bedraggled, which I initially put down to the constant rain lately, but I think I saw on this site that if blood is being drawn, something should be done.

Sunny is mostly white Leghorn, & the flightiest of all. It won't be easy to either clean off her neck, or isolate her at night - which are the 2 options I can think of.

Her behavior is fine - I just watched her this morning and she is not afraid of the other 5, she's out scratching happily away.

My best guess as to cause: When I don't get out to the coop at daybreak, I think there's a bit of squabbling & probably Sunny gets the worst of it. 95% of the time, I wake at daybreak & open their coop door & they drowsily stumble out.
If I am later than, say 7:30 am, they start getting noisier & noisier, & they tumble over each other in the rush to get out & start eating & drinking. (Thought: they sleep in a fairly small coop with no food or water in it, just straw & shavings).
Today it was my day off & I slept til 8:30, so I'm feeling a bit guilty. Her neck has clearly been pecked, & there was old dried blood (I can say "old" because it was pink, I imagine from yesterday's rain diluting it).

They free-range all day in my back yard, & I don't see any real problems then, just the occasional chasing someone (different ones) away & short squawk by the chasee.

Should I make a priority out of enlarging the coop? I can't walk in it; it's elevated about 4' off the ground & is about the size of a very large dog house.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/63357_coopdooroct2010.jpg
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