bullying

[tamsteve143]

I have noticed I have one chick that is pulling the feather's of the other birds, if they try to eat or get by her she pulls their feather out, I have read I should seperate her and then I have also read that no matter what one will be a bully, so if I take her out there will be another that will bully? She's very gentle with me but she has three of my other chickens raw. It's funny though she picks on them all except the younger one she don't mess with, I'm learning slowly but surely LOL. Any advice??

 

[junebuggena]

What kind of chicks? How many do you have? How big is the space they are kept? What are you feeding them?

 

[tamsteve143]

We have 4 red island reds, two sex links and two ameraucana's, it's the one ameraucana that does it. This is our coop and run area.

 

[tamsteve143]

oh and they are eating the chick starter food.

 

[junebuggena]

Coop and run are too small for that many birds, and they are letting you know it. The main cause of feather picking is stress from overcrowding. Either reduce your flock by half, or build a coop and run that will comfortably house your birds. You have 6 large breed hens and two medium sized hens, so you'll need more than the standard 4 sq. ft. per bird for the coop. And more than 10 sq. ft. per bird for the run.

 

[tamsteve143]

Thank you for the advice! We are extending our coop 4 more feet! I hate to get rid of any of them, ive gotten attached lol! We will eventually make the runner bigger also!