Bullying of one hen

[MrFluffyandGirls]

Dixie (the most aggressive) is an Ameraucana. Then comes Einstein, I think she's a Partridge Rock, and Ginger—totally out of character for her. I don't know what she is, Buff Rock? Photo attached, she's lounging on the patio furniture right now. The only one that hasn't jumped on the bandwagon is Jade, a Whiting True Green.

Attaching photo of our backyard for free ranging (100' long, garden also open to them at this time of year). Next photo is the run/tractor/coop setup, last is the interior. I usually have things hanging for them to work on, i.e. a whole cabbage, seed block, apples. But they also attack in the back yard while free ranging. That's Dixie watching me by the garden gate.

The thing is, I had another flock for 8 years, same setup, no problems other than a poke here and there. These girls have been together since May 1 and the problems only started about 1-2 weeks ago.
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The set up does not look like it should be a issue. Maybe also try a few chicken swings, some toys like a chicken mirror to distract. Things that take the bully's attention away from the Jersey. Sometimes there's no cure for a overly aggressive chicken but maybe with some tactic you'll be able to divert her attention and make it easier for the Jersey.

 

[DebiWebi]

OK thanks. Dixie just jumped Jersey again in the back yard, tearing at her comb 3-4 times before I could get to her. She bled a little, I have blue-kote. I caught Dixie, held her upside down for a little while (something someone else told me to do), then put her in the cage of shame. Maybe she needs to stay in there until the morning. She has food and water in there.

 

[aart]

Maybe she needs to stay in there until the morning.

And maybe even tomorrow...or longer.
See if the other birds also bully the 'victim'.
Is the 'victim' healthy?
Check for bugs, she may be going broody, she may be starting to molt....
..anything that might make a bird act differently can trigger bullying.
Even tho your tiny coop has worked well for more than a year, that can have an affect if someones feeling grumpy.

 

[bobbi-j]

I would add some clutter to that run. A pallet leaning at an angle so a bird can get out of sight from another (with both ends open so no one can get trapped), a couple more roosts so they can be on different levels, another feeder behind a pallet or something so a subordinate bird can eat out of sight, etc.

 

[DebiWebi]

And maybe even tomorrow...or longer.
See if the other birds also bully the 'victim'.
Is the 'victim' healthy?
Check for bugs, she may be going broody, she may be starting to molt....
..anything that might make a bird act differently can trigger bullying.
Even tho your tiny coop has worked well for more than a year, that can have an affect if someones feeling grumpy.

She's healthy, she is molting (first molt), which I mentioned earlier. My "tiny" coop is larger than the one I used to have, I've had chickens in this setup for 10 years and not had this problem before. Also, the chickens only lay eggs in the coop, they roost in the run. I'll look for more obstacles for the run, and we're going to add a door on the back end of the tractor so we can easily put in extra food and water. And probably some obstacles.