Bullying

[JessicaErnest]

Hi everyone! I have a flock of ten chickens, with two groups of five integrated at different times. My older hens are two years old and my newer hens are a year old.

Of my older ladies, recently the smallest hen has been getting picked on pretty seriously by most of the rest of the flock. Her comb has wounds on it, to the point of being bloody (they’re low-res, but I included photos)
. I’m a bit concerned—is there anything I can do to help stop this?

TIA

 

[JessicaErnest]

Edit: their run is 10x10, but they have a large free range area that they get access to for at least a few hours every day. The coop is roughly 5x5.

photos here for reference (please ignore my old, fat scarecrow )

 

[Byrd gal]

Poor baby! I have a hen that is picked on too. I try to let them free range and usually it helps. When they are in the run I put food in both sides of the run and a special bowl for lucy high on a hut out of eyesight of the others. I also give her mealworms out of my pocket while they are out of the run. She likes to hang inside with me. I have high and low places to hide since the top hen is a terror and when in a mood will peck and chase anyone in her path. Pecking order is the one thing I don't like about chickens. I know some people use peepers to stop a bully bird. Never used them myself.

 

[Lemon-Drop]

I think that maybe a problem is the coop size. The general rule of thumb is:

4' per chicken in the coop

10' per chicken in the run

1' of ventilation per chicken in the coop. (open 24/7)

I know you said rough estimate, but in the coop it would be 2.5 square feet per bird.... In some cases you *might* be able to get away with 3' feet, but if you are noticing problems, then you need at least the 4 feet.

So, you need
40' in the coop

100' in the run (sounds like you have that)

10' of ventilation in the coop.

I hope your problems will be resolved!

 

[Lemon-Drop]

Oh, also welcome!

 

[Lemon-Drop]

Edit: their run is 10x10, but they have a large free range area that they get access to for at least a few hours every day. The coop is roughly 5x5.

photos here for reference (please ignore my old, fat scarecrow )View attachment 2624189View attachment 2624190View attachment 2624191

In the first picture of this reply, it seems you have a smaller run within a run. Is this true? Or is that the total run. Because if that's a smaller run, then I would recommend building off of it and expanding to the size of the smaller run. Sorry if this is confusing.