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Good idea. I'll do it now.
Beware of segregating a bully
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My rooster, who happens to be Louise's offspring and the second oldest member of the flock has cancer and no longer has the use of one leg and can't walk but a few feet at a stretch. While he's still adored and fawned over by the thirteen hens, he is unable to fulfill his traditional role.
That to me is the worst part of keeping chickens or any other animal that you even remotely care about is seeing decline in health just as it is very hard to see it in our loved humans!
Poor old chap.
I read this fantastic article and was wondering if you could give any ideas of how to tweak this for my own situation. We had a large-ish flock of 20 hens that were all acquired within weeks of each other as 8 week and under. These birds all lived happily together for a couple of years. No issues at all. A one eyed hen I noticed was keeping to herself inside the coop and losing weight. I figured they were picking on her because she was scared to come out of the coop, and put her in the garden with my two little Serama hens in a mini coop. Calm for months and no other issues. Suddenly I had a red hen that was being brutalized by another hen. I didn’t particularly care for the hen that was bullying, and sent her and two others that to live in another flock of a friends. Peace again. Red hen grew her feathers back and we had a few months of no issues. One night she went to bed fully feathered, the next morning she was stripped bald on her back and was bloody. I pulled her into the garden pen with the two Seramas and the blind hen. Everything is fine at this point and has been for three months. Tuesday of this week we had a breach in security in the mini coop. A raccoon killed one of my Seramas. I feel strongly that these three that are left all need to be moved back into the big pen, even though we fixed the issue. We let them sleep in the big coop and removed them in the morning because it was a hurried temporary fix and we all had to work the next day so I couldn’t watch them. I have a few days coming up where I will be off and can watch them. Another issue is they are in my dormant garden and I will
Need that space back in a few months. A few concerns are obviously bullying, as two of these hens were removed for pretty bad bullying, and the size of the Serama. She would just stay in the garden (as she has for years) but now doesn’t have anyone to winter with her (which was why we had the second Serama in the first place). Any suggestions?
Need that space back in a few months. A few concerns are obviously bullying, as two of these hens were removed for pretty bad bullying, and the size of the Serama. She would just stay in the garden (as she has for years) but now doesn’t have anyone to winter with her (which was why we had the second Serama in the first place). Any suggestions?
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@Connie123 you have a very complex situation and there are no simple easy fixes. Each time one of your chickens leaves the flock, the social order adjusts itself, and it can lead to the appearance of chaos. The same goes for new chickens being added. And it's all complicated by having a timid chicken whose behavior incites a potential bully, and the result can be several chickens ganging up on the victim. In other words, it can be a mess at the same time being normal.
The best thing to do is to refrain from introducing new older chickens and also avoid getting rid of any chickens, as I point out in this thread. Expanding your flock instead with new baby chicks is the safest way to preserve peace in the flock since chicks are not a threat to the social order, and they grow up mostly knowing they rank at the very bottom.
Unfortunately, your having to work and be away from your flock most of the day ties your hands trying to deal with flock issues. The alternative is to expand your run and coop capacity to give the chickens lots of space to sort things out when conflicts arise. Chickens with more timid temperaments need places to avoid aggression from the bullies, additional perches of varying heights and even a second coop to avoid the aggression at roosting time.
In these ways, we provide our chickens with the tools to solve flock issues without our direct intervention. It will translate into a more peaceful flock.
The best thing to do is to refrain from introducing new older chickens and also avoid getting rid of any chickens, as I point out in this thread. Expanding your flock instead with new baby chicks is the safest way to preserve peace in the flock since chicks are not a threat to the social order, and they grow up mostly knowing they rank at the very bottom.
Unfortunately, your having to work and be away from your flock most of the day ties your hands trying to deal with flock issues. The alternative is to expand your run and coop capacity to give the chickens lots of space to sort things out when conflicts arise. Chickens with more timid temperaments need places to avoid aggression from the bullies, additional perches of varying heights and even a second coop to avoid the aggression at roosting time.
In these ways, we provide our chickens with the tools to solve flock issues without our direct intervention. It will translate into a more peaceful flock.
As someone that's dealt with my share of bullying issues (and learned A LOT from your experiences), I really appreciated this update.
Flock dynamics are like playing Jenga in a tropical storm: It doesn't take much of a change for everything to topple. I'm glad you were able to get everyone back on track.
Flock dynamics are like playing Jenga in a tropical storm: It doesn't take much of a change for everything to topple. I'm glad you were able to get everyone back on track.
It's an interesting approach, thanks for sharing.
Personally, I go a bit nuclear when I see cruelty in the flock.
I have found that new leaders arise from the flock when the excessively dominant birds are gone. And the new leaders are often nicer to everyone than the most aggressive birds were.
It's a lot like humans - some become "leaders" because they push everyone around. Some become Leaders because they keep their heads better under stress and treat others well enough to have their role accepted without force.
For a leader to arise, it takes outside stress on the flock. That's the crucible that has the flock turning to one bird over the others.
So when I integrate (juveniles mostly, 2-3 times a year), I purposely time it for a day of stress - removing the cull birds from the flock. Performing health maintenance like spraying with Elector, etc.
Then they cling together for the feeling of security. How could another chicken be bad when there are meany-head humans about?
Over time, my flock has become nicer without the presence of bullies. Many of the those behaviors are temperament, but some are learned (like feather picking), and I don't want that understanding shared amongst them.
Personally, I go a bit nuclear when I see cruelty in the flock.
I have found that new leaders arise from the flock when the excessively dominant birds are gone. And the new leaders are often nicer to everyone than the most aggressive birds were.
It's a lot like humans - some become "leaders" because they push everyone around. Some become Leaders because they keep their heads better under stress and treat others well enough to have their role accepted without force.
For a leader to arise, it takes outside stress on the flock. That's the crucible that has the flock turning to one bird over the others.
So when I integrate (juveniles mostly, 2-3 times a year), I purposely time it for a day of stress - removing the cull birds from the flock. Performing health maintenance like spraying with Elector, etc.
Then they cling together for the feeling of security. How could another chicken be bad when there are meany-head humans about?
Over time, my flock has become nicer without the presence of bullies. Many of the those behaviors are temperament, but some are learned (like feather picking), and I don't want that understanding shared amongst them.
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