Bullying - giving them away or lost cause?

[Coldd]

Having a real bullying problem. All the other hens will pile on a single other smaller hen. She was pecked up pretty badly. Will they continue their bad habits (including feather eating/pulling) if split up and sent off to different homes?

Is it worth trying to rehome? I’d have 4 BJJ and 3 BRocks for the freezer but my partner is against it.

Thoughts? Thanks

 

[azygous]

There is another way to approach bullying - from the victim's standpoint. I've had tremendous success with this method that I write about here. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/chicken-bully-chicken-victim-a-two-sided-issue.73923/

The victim's behavior is what triggers the bullying. By fixing the victim's behavior, the bullying almost always stops.

 

[FrostRanger]

First, how big are your coop and run for how many birds and what's the protein percentage of their feed?

 

[Coldd]

64 sq ft coop for 7 birds.

Run is over 150sq ft. Food inside and out, water outside only. When they range in the yard they leave her alone mostly. Protein is 17-18% layer. Oyster shell offered free choice.

They’re 2.5 maybe 3 yrs old if I remember correctly, this behavior is new. Had some feather pecking but never any of this.