beaten up bantam....advise please

[thomaske]

We have 15 hens total and one is a beautiful(if I do say) nankin bantam. She was one of the queens of our first group of hens and then we added a younger group. As the younger group has grown they have begun to pick on her... plucking feathers off her back. We have taken to seperating her from the group during the day when we are away. When we get home they free range together and then we let her go to the coop to roost. In the morning I find her and put her in a seperate area. Both my husband and I do not think that this is working as they are still picking on her and she has become more and more a loner. We wonder what we will do in the cold months to come. We need suggestions...hopefully economical ones. Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[sheaviance1]

One of the things that you don't mention is whether your younger flock is standards or bantams. i will offer you my opinion, but that is all that it is after reading on here for months (I have not encountered your situation in my flock). I think by seperating the one that is being picked on, you are reinforcing her position at the bottom of the pecking order. If they are not all picking on her, could you segregate the one who is doing the picking? Also, could it be that your other hens need more protein? If she is molting and regaining feathers right now, they may be filling a protein deficiency by picking on her. I have read supplementing with cat food will help if this is the case.

 

[thomaske]

Yes, all our other chickens are standard size. There is more than one chicken picking on her so it was easier to remove her from the situation, however, I did worry about her losing any status she still had. She is roosting with them at night and does free range with them when we get home from work. I think that this weekend when we are here to check on her we are going to reintroduce her full time to the others.

As for the protein thing.. we have considered that theory and have put them on 24% feed, black oil sunflower seeds, and any protein left over from the kitchen. I suppose we could go higher but we are holding right now to see if this helps.

Thanks for your thoughts. I will post how she does this weekend.