Can’t get bully to stop bothering her mother

[Tailwise]

Hey all,

I’ve always had a very small flock in the backyard, about 3-4 chickens. When one of them died two years ago,I borrowed a rooster & let one of the remaining hens, a big, dominating, perma-broody silkie/wyandotte cross, hatch an egg. The resulting baby was a little feisty but integrated into the flock well. I thought.

Flash-forward two years and the baby is grown & seems to think she’s the boss now. And she won’t stop bullying her mom. Constantly. She’ll peck her mom in the neck and chase her away from the food that way, and sometimes she won’t even stop until her mom is in the inside area, where she can’t see her. Now her mom has been broody a lot this past year and we currently have to keep the chickens in the run because of bird flu, so those two things can be a factor.

Either way, nothing I’ve tried has worked. I just released the bully chicken after keeping her away from the rest in a dog crate for the past four days, and BOOM - right back to pecking her mom in the neck. I’m beginning to run out of ideas, and because the flock is so small, I would REALLY rather not rehome this one. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[DobieLover]

If you've recently had to confine them to a run and they are accustomed to more freedom, the closer quarters likely have a lot to do with it. As for the social order, it certainly sounds as if the younger hen has taken command of the flock from her mother.
How large is the run and what is in it? The best solution will likely be enlarging the run significantly and adding enrichment to it.

 

[Tailwise]

The two ‚original’ chickens grew up with a lot of free ranging space, but I moved out two years ago (part of why I’ve been keeping my flock at ~3 instead of adding a fourth). The young one & the mature ones have been in the run with some daily hours of free-ranging time for the past two years, but we got a ‚keep them inside’ order from the gov’t about two-three months ago now. The mother went broody shortly before then.

The run they’re in now is 4-ishx9-ish feet big. All three of them are bantams, one Wyandotte & two Wyandotte-Silkie crosses. I put some cauliflower up for them two weeks ago but did not notice a significant change in the mother’s scared behavior, at least; are there any specific enrichment tips you might have?

 

[aart]

are there any specific enrichment tips you might have?

Here's some ideas:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/
Pics of your setup might help here.

 

[Tailwise]

Honestly, just looking at those pictures is making it clear to me how much I got used to the luxury of my previous setup (large yard with plenty to do) and that I may have been overoptimistic in thinking they’d be fine in the newer, smaller space, especially with the way our lock-in bird flu orders seem to last longer every year. (Last year they were in there until March - but there weren’t any problems, so I assumed it’d be fine this year as well.)

I’m going to go see about getting some clutter in for them (and I’m giving them a ‚cheat day’ around my current, much smaller yard today that will hopefully let them blow off some steam)

 

[Tailwise]

A cinderblock, some wood, and another cheat day and peace seems to be restored within the family. Hopefully to stay.

 

[Sondraa]

Not that different to humans in this respect.