australorp hen being a bully

[Critter Mom]

My 4 girls shipped as day-olds together and have been together constantly since (about 18 months). The aggression issues have been escalating for about 6 weeks and she recently plucked a large patch of another hen's back bare. There are no new stressors, there is ample food and water, they have tons of space (64sq feet outdoor and 24sq ft indoor for 4 birds), we have seen no evidence of a predator nearby. I'm stumped as to why this hen is now bullying the other girls and what I can do to stop her before she really hurts someone.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

What are you feeding them? She could be getting protein deficit this late in the season and with birds molting. Upping her protein to a 18-20% ration, and feeding some higher protein snacks like cottage cheese or scrambled eggs can help.

 

[aart]

Not sure I'd call that 'tons' of space...but not too bad.
Is the run a bare blank space or are there things for a variety of 'enrichment'?

Are they molting?

Might want to isolate the bully bird for a time....in a wire crate right in coop and /or run.
Lock her up for a few hours, or more, give the others some relief.

 

[Bennett Farms]

I am having the same issue with a maran and americana. Arya (maran) is chasing and bullying Gilley ( americana ). They came from the same flock. They have been together this whole time. Now that they are going out into the run Arya has started show aggressive behavior toward Gilley. How do i correct that before she trys to hurt the other chicken

 

[carlf]

They don't call it a pecking order for nothing, chickens can be "brutal".
You cant really "correct" the dominant hen.
Only thing you can do is relieve the stress somehow, which normally means giving them more space to get away from each other.
Or get rid of the dominant hen and hope for the best when the pecking order gets re-established.

I also agree that an 8x8 run is not really a lot of room, especially of they do not get to "free-range" at all.