Bullying/Pecking

[xChickrenMamax]

I’ve noticed (primarily at bedtime) that my girls are awfully aggressive when it comes to roosting. They will peck eachothers face and most recently I walked in and one of my girls heads was bleeding profusely.
They have ample space to roost on other roosts but they all seem to want to be together. Some will sit the opposite ways of the others(I figured maybe in protection of their faces being pecked)
The dilemma is I can’t seem to pinpoint who is doing it , I think it is not just one I think they each take turns honestly

I should note I do notice it at times when they’re in the play pen during the day when eating scratch or treats

Please help, nervous hen mama here!

 

[Shabby Chic-Hens]

Try putting a camera in the chicken coop. Some of them have apps which attach to your phone, and others will take pictures on a SD card. Maybe that will help you find who is pecking your hen

 

[Iluveggers]

Can we see a pic of your roost bars? My girls used to rumble every night. Now my dominant 4 ladies sit next to the pop door, my 4 gentle ladies sit on the opposite side of them, and my 2 “in the middle” sometimes sleep with group 1 and sometimes with group 2. It is a lot less noisy now that they seemed to have figured out where they like to be. How old are they?

 

[xChickrenMamax]

Can we see a pic of your roost bars? My girls used to rumble every night. Now my dominant 4 ladies sit next to the pop door, my 4 gentle ladies sit on the opposite side of them, and my 2 “in the middle” sometimes sleep with group 1 and sometimes with group 2. It is a lot less noisy now that they seemed to have figured out where they like to be. How old are they?

Maybe they roosts are too close you think?

 

[Iluveggers]

View attachment 3413591
Maybe they roosts are too close you think?

I can’t tell from the pic, how long are they and how far apart? It’s the 5 hens only, right?

 

[David61]

The pecking order can be brutal. You can remove the bully to the broody cooler/hospital cage for a few days. Add more roost space at the same hight. This may help.
I go in the coop grab up the bully and pin her to the poop board and let all see that I am" Ro buK" giver of grain, protector of hawk, slayer of rats and coon. I demand peace in the land of pine shavings and wood chip. The taker of eggs has spoken. All hail Ro buK.
Chickens have a language if you didn't know. They have named you just like they use sounds for hawks, food... Do you know your chicken name?

 

[SamLockwood]

So they always try to cluster on the top roosting bar? My birds act like that. Try adding more roosting space at the top level and see if that alleviates the problem. I originally had staggered roosting bars but everyone wanted to roost as high as possible, and they to got into some nasty rows at bedtime, although instead of bloodying each other they'd just knock the other bird off like some avian "king of the mountain" game.

I ended up reconfiguring things where I greatly expended the "top shelf" roosting areas, and the lower bars just served as a ladder system to get to the actual sleeping bars. There's still conflicts: other than the top birds the pecking order seems to shift daily. However, they're a lot less intense and there's enough space for them to huddle close or spread out a bit if they want.