bully chicken

[tlk]

I am a new ‘Chickie Mom’. I have five New Hampshire Reds and one Rhode Island Red. They were born in early July 2010. My question is: one of the girls is mean. She attacks the others and draws blood. What should I do? If I get rid of the meany, will that solve my problem? The coop is 4 x 8 and their run is 8 x 12. Any suggestions? Thank you so much.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Is there any way you can separate her for a few days from the flock then reintroduce her? A few days in chicken jail should put her at the bottom of the pecking order again.

Oh and...

 

[Featherland]

You can try removing the bully from the rest of your chickens for a couple days if you have another place to keep her temporarily. When you bring her back to the rest of the flock she will have lost her ranking. There will be a little fussing but her rank should be lower and then she shouldn't still be a bully. If that doesn't work you may have to get rid of her but I would give it a chance.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

internet hiccup... double posting, sorry....

 

[tlk]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will try separating the mean one from the rest. I'll have to figure the logistics as we are due for another winter storm. I wonder if it would be okay to put her in our garage for a few days. Will the temperature difference cause a problem for her? Thanks again.

 

[azygous]

You could rig up a small enclosure in one corner of the run with chicken wire, say, two feet by three feet - a sort of jail. I did that with one of my hens two years ago at roosting time when she was standing just inside the coop and preventing the young pullets from coming in to roost.

Or you could put your meanie inside a pet carrier and place it inside the run. She would still be a part of the daily life of the flock, but wouldn't be able to inflict injury. A few days to a week of this might alter her behavior. It certainly worked on my meanie, and she had a distinct personality change.