Bully Chickens

[HeinzRanch]

Hello. I have 3 chicken bully’s (one Americana hen and 2 roosters an Americana and a polish) all have been in isolation for bullying 1 of my original hens (a 15 week polish) for 2 days. Which of the 3 bullies do I reintroduce back into small flock first? The small flock consist of a Polish hen & Polish rooster and Orpington hen who have all been calm since the removal of bullies. Side note, the Polish Rooster and Orpington are basically followers and submit to confrontation.

 

[CoopBoots]

What is your setup like, in terms of size and contents? I keep a large, somewhat cluttered run (but realize that is something of a luxury in terms of space) and I also keep "subflock" groups when I find there's a serious social issue.

Edit: Having multiple roosters definitely adds tension. I highly recommend reducing their numbers as part of your solution in general. I'm about to do that myself for the sake of my hens. Too much mating attention is not fun for them.

 

[HeinzRanch]

We live on acreage and they free range. I have two 4x6 chicken trackers with a coop, they Re put up in at night but during day doors open so they free range. Currently I have the Americana rooster isolated by himself away from the main small flock, the female Americana in a dog pen in basement and the other semi bully Polish rooster in a movable dog pen outside also away from the others. Which bully do I let out first back to flock?

 

[CoopBoots]

So we've got 3 bullies and 3 well behaved, and the bullies only pick on one of the well behaved so far?

Who are your "originals" and who are the newbies?

I'd start with your bully hen, as she probably has the best chance of success. Make her the penned, ineffective outsider so she can't follow through on any attacks. Have them all eat near her pen, drink there, make shady spots nearby so it's a really good congregation area. Do that till she quits posturing/fluffing/growling. It might be weeks, don't rush. Then you can try letting her loose, but only with multiple feed and water stations and lots of ring-around-the-rosy hiding spots and perches so if she gets aggressive, your victim can give up but still get away. Bully may always be a top of the pecking order kind of gal, but there needn't be any serious injuries and they usually stop the aggression once they've settled their hierarchy.

So far as the roosters go... I don't even have hatchmate brothers that won't eventually come to dire blows. Rejected males often violently take what they want from a hen and I've seen hens who want to move up the ladder literally attack helpless other hens while pinned down by such a male. A bully will absolutely feed off of the weakness of a hen who is already too submissive/cowardly due to frequent unwanted rooster attention. If you're serious about keeping all the boys, I hope it works out but I don't have any useful advice there. Mine just don't get along without fences.

Best of luck! Let us know how it goes!

 

[CoopBoots]

Oh, I forgot to mention but Polish are sometimes at a disadvantage due to feathering too close to and around the eyes. It also makes them targets specifically because they look so different and chickens can be very mean about appearances. As your victim is a Polish, maybe a little feather trim could help her see better and be more prepared to dodge/less timid?

 

[HeinzRanch]

So we've got 3 bullies and 3 well behaved, and the bullies only pick on one of the well behaved so far?

Who are your "originals" and who are the newbies?

I'd start with your bully hen, as she probably has the best chance of success. Make her the penned, ineffective outsider so she can't follow through on any attacks. Have them all eat near her pen, drink there, make shady spots nearby so it's a really good congregation area. Do that till she quits posturing/fluffing/growling. It might be weeks, don't rush. Then you can try letting her loose, but only with multiple feed and water stations and lots of ring-around-the-rosy hiding spots and perches so if she gets aggressive, your victim can give up but still get away. Bully may always be a top of the pecking order kind of gal, but there needn't be any serious injuries and they usually stop the aggression once they've settled their hierarchy.

So far as the roosters go... I don't even have hatchmate brothers that won't eventually come to dire blows. Rejected males often violently take what they want from a hen and I've seen hens who want to move up the ladder literally attack helpless other hens while pinned down by such a male. A bully will absolutely feed off of the weakness of a hen who is already too submissive/cowardly due to frequent unwanted rooster attention. If you're serious about keeping all the boys, I hope it works out but I don't have any useful advice there. Mine just don't get along without fences.

Best of luck! Let us know how it goes!

Yes to first question above. Only 1 well behave (polish original) is being picked on. Little back ground - when we brought home all 5 newbies we had two polish hens who were about 8 weeks old and just started free ranging but cooped at night. The newbies I had in dog pen by the polish tractor/coop for 4 weeks so everyone seen each other daily. The newbies are all roughly a few weeks younger or same age as originals. We then released one newby (a polish male) with the original polish girls. They chased him a bit and pecked but not bad. However he would not leave the side of the dog pen with the other newbies at night he would go to new coop with originals by himself but only once the originals went to roost. Last week we introduced 2 more newbies (younger polish male and Orpington) again no issues. Last week we lost one of original polish (got sick and weak, I quarantined her and tried everything but she passed with the other original polish girl by her side(they have been together since they were a week old and she wouldn’t leave her side). After few days we released the last two Newbies(Americana couple)- then the Americana's and the first polish rooster newby we interested with the originals started picking on the surviving original. So all three bullies got separated. The original polish, the newby Orpington and the smaller polish male are all fine together.
Sorry for the long story but this is the chicken drama I have and the details.

 

[Lils Roost]

I'm not sure what to do next and would love some input. I have 3 one year old layers, EE's, and three 15 wk chicks, 2 Buffs and 1 RIR. I've got a 30 sq foot coop and 100 sq foot attached run with a roof. They also have 40 + sq feet of outdoor, run with net covering. I introduced my started introducing my chicks at 11 wks in a smaller coop that was parallel to the main run so they could see and hear each other; all was fine. When the chicks went into the main run; all was fine for about 3 days. At that point I put in two hiding places which included a large board leaned up against the side of the coop where they could all easily fit... but the layers could not. After a few days, things settled down a bit but the focus then became food. It's just one of the EE's that doesn't want the chicks near the food. I have three bowls that are separated, one is in the outdoor run if the weather is good. Unfortunately, the EE only lets the chicks eat from the bowl in the outdoor run. Then she wouldn't let them up in the coop and they'd get closed out when the auto door closed at night.

Last week I isolated the trouble EE into the smaller coop that the chicks were in. The coop is still adjacent to the large run and I put a dog crate on the outside that goes into the outdoor run. I thought that the "be close but don't touch" would work. She seemed to calm down after a few days (with two nights of not being able to roost in the coop). She was good for a few days... then back at the chicks.

She was isolated again for another 2 days and three nights. Back at the chicks again.

I now have her in dog crates in my garage where she can't even see them and my thought is that a week or so where she can't see them my break up the pecking order. What are your thoughts?

I don't want to rehome her but I can't have this in the flock. My littles are stressed out when she's there. No peace in the coop. When she's removed, everyone is happy, the littles roost both in the coop and out in the run.

There's peace in the kingdom if you know what I mean. She only does this with the food and letting them in the coop. There's no physical injuries... just mean.

 

[Mrs. K]

Why don't you want to rehome her? You enjoy the flock more with her gone, and the flock is happier.

Sometimes it is best to follow their directions, and they are all telling you as loud as they can, that this is not working. When you pull the problem hen, it begins to work just fine.

Sometimes you have a bird that just does not fit in a flock. The easiest way to solve for peace in the flock is to acknowledge that, and move on.

Some how, when people start this hobby, they seem to think that they are obligated to keep every bird that by luck comes to them, and struggle to make it work. When in reality, it just prolongs the misery for both the chickens and the owner, it is ugly to go down there and watch that mean behavior.

Let her go, you should be able to sell her easily - and she will probably fit in someone else's flock just fine.

Mrs K