Bullying

[DawnLee]

Chickens are easy they say! Not!

Never had chickens before. I bought my first flock of 6 hens almost 3 months ago. Two Brahmas, two EEs, one Orphington, and one Sussex. I was told that they were 16 months old. They were all in the same huge run. I put them in a 5 x 10 coop/run combo. The coop itself is 3 x 5. I added an extended 12 x 16 run. They have plenty of space, food, treats. The run is dirt which I often turn over. The hens don't even wait until I am finished to start scratching.

They seemed to get along up until about a couple of weeks ago. My Sussex started keeping to herself in the corner and keeping her right eye shut. I brought her to the vet. He said her 3rd eyelid was inflamed and swollen. I was given antibiotic/anti-inflammatory ointment. I had witnessed my Brahma picking on her. She seemed to attack her for no reason. I am thinking she caused the injured eye. I have pushed her away from her. Held her down, turned her upside down. Nothing seems to stop her from attacking my Sussex. I separated part of the run for my Sussex to allow her to heal. Even in there she was still just standing in the corner. I was having a hard time trying to open her eye for the ointment so I brought her back to the vet and they gave her an antibiotic injection. After a couple of days she started to move around the enclosure a bit more. I did allow my Sussex to go into the coop at night time but she doesn't want to come out on her own in the morning. I have been having to physically move her back to her enclosure.

This morning I moved my Sussex back into the main run and observed the other hens with her. She was timid and kept in one spot. Everything was fine for about 15 minutes but then one of the Brahmas decided to go after her again. I reacted right away and pinned her down. A few minutes later the other Brahma went after her. I decided to move the two Brahmas into the enclosure and leave the Sussex in the main run. She is so timid that she goes into a corner and won't move.

My other issue is one of the Brahmas is also picking on the other Brahma. I thought they would all be okay with each other since they all came from the same place. I am so stressed out trying to keep my Sussex safe, and the bully from being bullied. I am concerned that I won't be able to integrate her back into the flock. I am not sure what else to do.

Sorry for the long post. Just trying to paint a better picture.

 

[MarkRainbolt]

Well for one thing is your coop is to small. 3x5 is only 15 square feet. That size is only good for 3 chickens. I think the over crowding in the coop is your biggest issue. Over crowding causes tension and fights. Either get rid of 3 chickens or double the size of the coop.
4 square feet of coop for every 1 chicken.
10 square feet of run for every 1 chicken.
Mark

 

[DawnLee]

Well for one thing is your coop is to small. 3x5 is only 15 square feet. That size is only good for 3 chickens. I think the over crowding in the coop is your biggest issue. Over crowding causes tension and fights. Either get rid of 3 chickens or double the size of the coop.
4 square feet of coop for every 1 chicken.
10 square feet of run for every 1 chicken.
Mark

Do they not only need a linear foot of perch to roost on? I have 3 roost bars and they all cram onto one. They have 242 sf of run space. I paid for this custom coop. I was told it was good for 12 hens. I only have 6.

 

[saysfaa]

One of the reasons Sussex is not moving is because it is the most she can do to give way to Brahma.

If a higher ranking hen is easy going and does not feel her position is challenged then a lower ranked hen need only casually give her the best spot at resources like the roost, food, or nesting spots. If the higher ranked hen is not so easy going or feels her position is threatened then she will require lower ranked hens to give more way. Giving way is some combination of more distance, more submissive posturing, and more responsively giving distance or submissive posturing when the higher ranking hen requests it.

The more threatened the higher ranked hen feels, the more overtly she requests way be given to her and/or the more overtly the way must be given to satisfy the request.

If the lower ranked hen gives enough way (what she does and how quickly she does it), then the higher ranked hen feels less threatened and things de-escalate.

Likely, for a few weeks, Brahma felt too unsure of herself from all of the changes to be very concerned about minor rank challenges and accepted whatever Sussex did to show she agreed Brahma ranked higher. As she became more comfortable, she noticed Sussex was in her face more than she liked. Brahma requested more way be given. Sussex gave more (space and movement toward Brahma) until she had no more to give.

It may have happened gradually as Brahma gradually became more comfortable in the new surroundings and routine. Or it may have happened very quickly, if Sussex made mistake or inadvertently did something that Brahma interpreted as a challenge.

Another thing about the pecking order, is that when a hen feels her position is threatened, she eases that feeling by making sure of her place higher than all the hens lower ranked. Even if the threat isn't coming from them. Brahma didn't understand that you don't want her to be higher ranked than Sussex. Instead, she understood that the pecking order is unstable.

 

[saysfaa]

What to do about it.

Add anything that allows any hen to give another hen way. Start with anything that allows them to get out of sight of each other (without getting trapped in a dead end). Search this site for "clutter" to get ideas. Also, multiple feeders and waterers.

You have a beautiful run. It looks like it is fully enclosed with hardware cloth? Then putting roosts and nests outside the coop would help a lot.

 

[DawnLee]

One of the reasons Sussex is not moving is because it is the most she can do to give way to Brahma.

If a higher ranking hen is easy going and does not feel her position is challenged then a lower ranked hen need only casually give her the best spot at resources like the roost, food, or nesting spots. If the higher ranked hen is not so easy going or feels her position is threatened then she will require lower ranked hens to give more way. Giving way is some combination of more distance, more submissive posturing, and more responsively giving distance or submissive posturing when the higher ranking hen requests it.

The more threatened the higher ranked hen feels, the more overtly she requests way be given to her and/or the more overtly the way must be given to satisfy the request.

If the lower ranked hen gives enough way (what she does and how quickly she does it), then the higher ranked hen feels less threatened and things de-escalate.

Likely, for a few weeks, Brahma felt too unsure of herself from all of the changes to be very concerned about minor rank challenges and accepted whatever Sussex did to show she agreed Brahma ranked higher. As she became more comfortable, she noticed Sussex was in her face more than she liked. Brahma requested more way be given. Sussex gave more (space and movement toward Brahma) until she had no more to give.

It may have happened gradually as Brahma gradually became more comfortable in the new surroundings and routine. Or it may have happened very quickly, if Sussex made mistake or inadvertently did something that Brahma interpreted as a challenge.

Another thing about the pecking order, is that when a hen feels her position is threatened, she eases that feeling by making sure of her place higher than all the hens lower ranked. Even if the threat isn't coming from them. Brahma didn't understand that you don't want her to be higher ranked than Sussex. Instead, she understood that the pecking order is unstable.

The Sussex has always, at least from what I have seen, been submissive. The one Brahma will go after her even when she is a few feet away. Both of my Brahmas have gone after my Sussex. And, one Brahma will go after the other one that goes after my Sussex, at other times. So, the bully is being bullied too. The one Brahma is viscous in her attack on the Sussex. She will grab her neck and not let go. My poor girl is trying to stay away from them but they won't leave her alone.

 

[saysfaa]

Do they not only need a linear foot of perch to roost on? I have 3 roost bars and they all cram onto one. They have 242 sf of run space. I paid for this custom coop. I was told it was good for 12 hens. I only have 6.

Sadly, many of the people designing coops are carpenters rather than keepers of chickens. And, also sadly, the industry standard for space assumes that huge numbers of birds are kept in a given space or that they are individually caged and that intensive management techniques are used.

If huge numbers of birds are kept, then any given bird can get far away from any given other bird. Huge numbers also allows a better use of space because some will flock together (like yours huddling on just one of the roosts) leaving open space for whoever wants to run a bit or stretch her wings. Intensive management techniques include forced air ventilation and debeaking.

 

[saysfaa]

The Sussex has always, at least from what I have seen, been submissive. The one Brahma will go after her even when she is a few feet away. Both of my Brahmas have gone after my Sussex. And, one Brahma will go after the other one that goes after my Sussex, at other times. So, the bully is being bullied too. The one Brahma is viscous in her attack on the Sussex. She will grab her neck and not let go. My poor girl is trying to stay away from them but they won't leave her alone.

Yes. They do not allow for how much the other hen can do. They go by what she does do.

 

[DawnLee]

It still doesn't make sense to me since I only have 6. I have 3 roosts and they choose only 1. I had 4 roosts but took one out to space them out more. There is plenty of room for them to spread out at night, if they wanted. And, plenty of room in the runs.

 

[Pghelp]

I had a fairly calm flock but the death of one of my hens really disrupted the pecking order. I have two hens that are low in the ranks but the two of them are picking on anyone lower and one is picking on the other. I’m trying Pinless Peepers (which I swore I would never use!) to try to disrupt the bullying behavior. Not sure how well this is going to work but pretty much the only alternative was to get rid of the two bullies but I love them too and they are fabulous layers. Good luck to you. Just wanted you to know you’re not the only one all stressed out by a situation like this!