bitey, feather pulling, stoppy chicken worse than a toddler behaviour - help

Xtineart

Chirping
5 Years
May 3, 2014
204
17
88
My top hen is being a right pest to the other birds these days, honestly behaving worse than a two year old kid going through tantrum phase. She pull feathers out of the top of their wings and from the front of their necks and the wee ones are so timid they just stand there and take it. Its not boredom or a deficiency, she does it out of plain badness and jealousy. I've watched her at work....one chick is in her favourite dust bath so over she goes, and pecks and pulls until the poor bird gets up and lets her take it's place, if one stands in front of her in the food queue, peck, if one is spending too long looking to me for attention , peck peck. It's starting to cause real feather loss patches on my other birds where she keeps picking on them, one girl even hides behind my legs whenever the top hen is about and I'm in the garden with them. I've tried vaseline, I've tried anti-pek spray and I've upped the calcium and vit D supplements although being top hen she gets the best choice of the food anyway. It's doing my head in, I'm sure she just does it out of plain naughtiness. How do I stop her?
 
Try separating her for a few days. It should knock her down a few pegs in the pecking order. Also in the mean time you could try to cover up the bare spots on the others with a saddle/wing protectors (until the feathers grow back). That way they others wont be tempted to peck as well.
 
Have you tried a bumper bit works great with my bully girl she can't get a grip on the feathers to pull on them:D not sure if they do them in the U.S tho if that's where you are

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