bullied hen

[alexkrass]

my oldest hen , iggy, is a silkie bantam. recently she was being roughed up by the rooster to the point to where she lost a few feathers on her back. the rooster has since stopped. now, a few weeks after the rooster incident, my rhode island red hen is now attacking her. my silkie is fighting back to keep her title as alpha, but RIR is too big and may seriously hurt her, what should i do? all she does now is hide in the nesting box and wont go out until the coast is clear. thanks, Alex

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I would advise you not to keep silkies with large breeds as they often become bullied, I would set her up somewhere without bigger breeds and get her some others her size or let her hatch a family. Silkies can be killed by bigger chickens.

 

[alexkrass]

the other thing is, my other silkies are all fine, its just the one hen. my silkies actually raised my egg layers

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I occasionally see where a chicken will get targeted because there's something wrong with them or their behavior is off, but not enough to be noticed by us humans. Unfortunately the only way to stop bullying is to remove the bully or the victim, but I find there's usually a reason it started out of no where because it isn't normal for them to attack a member of the flock like that so maybe see if there's a reason.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Have they been confined due to winter weather, boredom or crowding will bring on that behavior too.

 

[alexkrass]

yes! we have been trapped in by last weeks blizzard and most of their run is snow covered it's a lot more confined then what it was.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

That will trigger pecking behavior sometimes, they get bored and confused, then they will sometimes take their frustrations out on another member, any crested or weaker birds can become the target. I shovel my run out than put down hay or bedding and I get mine back outside, otherwise people use cabbages and flock blocks, you can also throw scratch in the coop to peck at.

 

[aart]

How big is your coop and how many birds do you have?

 

[packinpreacher]

I have a similar situation. Ten hens (silver laced wyndotts); introduced a rooster about 3 weeks ago. Has one hen he will ride when ever he sees her. Hiding in a nesting box.Other hens seem to be doing fine. She has lost most of her feathers on back and bleeding around comb area. Other hens are starting to eat her feathers after rooster mounts her. Any options besides culling? They have large run area and plenty to eat. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[aart]

I have a similar situation. Ten hens (silver laced wyndotts); introduced a rooster about 3 weeks ago. Has one hen he will ride when ever he sees her. Hiding in a nesting box.Other hens seem to be doing fine. She has lost most of her feathers on back and bleeding around comb area. Other hens are starting to eat her feathers after rooster mounts her. Any options besides culling? They have large run area and plenty to eat. Any help would be appreciated.

How old is 'rooster'?
Are you thinking of culling low ranked hen or rooster?
How large is 'large'(feet by feet)?
Are there places for them to respite other than in nests? Roosts, stumps, pallet leaned against wall, etc.
You might try separating the male for a week or two, let the hen recuperate.