Bantam being bullied by new chickens

[dixielou]

I am at my wit's end with the bullying happening with my bantam. She is one of my older chickens and has been with my flock for about 3 years. Now that the newer girls are about 9 to 10 months, a few of them have been bullying my little Poppy. I have hiding places and I have a separation inside the coop, but I have to make sure that the bullies are separated from her each night. And she is reluctant to go in to the coop at night. This has been happening for over a month. Any suggestions? She is a bit of a free ranger and gets out of the fenced in area which is fine, but during the winter months, it is so cold some days I keep the girls inside the coop or rather they don't want to come out in the cold and snow. This poses a problem since she will bolt out and would rather been in the cold and snow than be bullied. So, any suggestions, again, would be great!

 

[sourland]

Pin Less Peepers may or may not correct the behavior of the aggressive birds. Sadly chicken society is a lot like 'mean girls in high school'.

 

[kiwi-chick]

the reason they are picking on her is because she is different! The only thing I can think of to solve your problem is to get some more Bantams so she is not the only "little" one.

 

[dixielou]

the reason they are picking on her is because she is different! The only thing I can think of to solve your problem is to get some more Bantams so she is not the only "little" one.

Thanks for the reply, but I can't get more chickens at this point. The flock I have now will be my last for a while. Retired recently and ready to travel. Hopefully I will get more at one point.

 

[dixielou]

Pin Less Peepers may or may not correct the behavior of the aggressive birds. Sadly chicken society is a lot like 'mean girls in high school'.

Thanks, I am still mulling the idea.