Bullied pullet

[Nicrom]

I feel she is also prevented from eating as much as she'd like/should.

Is there anything I can do to help her? I realize someone has to be at the bottom of the pecking order, but i at least want to be sure she is getting enough to eat. I'm also afraid if I favor her, it will make things worse.

I am having the exact same issue! No rooster but just another dominate hen. I hope you can get some answers. Thankful for your post and hopeful that maybe I will too.

 

[ElizaMay]

It‘s a trait some roosters have. Attempting to show dominance over him whilst you are outside will only make him scared of you. It isn’t likely to make him act nicer towards his hens. I don’t like the idea of scruffing a rooster and putting his head and neck in dirt, it just doesn’t sit well with me. If you want to do it then okay do it, I just wouldn’t recommend it to other people. I feel like it would be really easy to accidentally kill your rooster or cause him pain. Scruffing is really just grabbing at the feathers on his neck.

If it’s a mean rooster it becomes dinner. Or if you want to train him find a humane way to do so, don’t get violent with them.

Aggressive to me, not to his hens.
I don't care to be flogged, I am on immune suppressants and wounds infect easily and seriously for me.
Rooster neck feathers are very tough, I've had a sharp axe bounce off them, and roosters routinely pull hen necks bald, it's part of chicken-on-chicken business.
It has been my experience that if I hold enough of them on a bird's neck, they don't pull out, they only secure the bird. It is when only grasping a few at a time that they come out.

I do this ONCE, it's not a repeat thing.

If he is afraid of me, enough so that he gives way and doesn't try a sneak attack again, that is the whole point. To me, it's fair to give a chance to avoid the broomstick. It's not done to be cruel, but done to speak in a language they understsnd. People may decide to do otherwise, but this has worked in my coop.

 

[Mrs. K]

Mean animals are just not my thing. Rotten roosters have ruined the whole chicken experience for a lot of people. Not all roosters work out, a LOT OF THEM don't. Always have a plan B when raising roosters, and have it set up and ready to go.