Can I trade a mean chicken for a different one?

[mightybeckster]

First time chicken keeper.... I have a backyard flock of 4 Lohmann Browns (that's the max we're allowed). They moved in almost 2 months ago when they were 20 weeks old. (The city allows us to have birds 16 weeks or older.) Anyway, one of them has become just a total twerp. She's pecking the other three a LOT. I can hear them squawking from INSIDE my house and I'm afraid she's going to end up really hurting one of them. (I'd rather see the top dog go than the underdog.)

I've tried to give them as best of a setup as I can - I built them a coop with an enclosed run and given them all sorts of enrichment things (swing, mirrors, xylophone, branches to climb on, treat cage, treat net, etc) to try to give them options for entertaining themselves but this one particular hen (we call her Regina George because she was the meanest girl in "Mean Girls") is just getting worse and worse.

Yesterday I actually thought I might get rid of her and get a different hen. There will be one ready in September if I want it. Would that be a good idea or a terrible idea? The new one would be 20 weeks old at that point while the other 3 would be 41 weeks old.

I thought I'd get a couple of chicken aprons to put on the two most beat up chickens to give them a break from Regina's nasty little beak. I have some spray that is supposed to prevent pecking but it doesn't work. It chokes me but doesn't seem to slow Regina down at all.

Any suggestions, thoughts? (They also are still all sleeping in a pile in the nesting box - that can't be normal at their age, can it? I'd rather they sleep on their roosting bar which has been ready for them since day 1. Sigh....)

 

[sourland]

You could try Pin Less Peepers on the pecking/plucking bird or just get rid of her. Adding a new bird to the flock would result in more turmoil.

 

[mightybeckster]

You could try Pin Less Peepers on the pecking/plucking bird or just get rid of her. Adding a new bird to the flock would result in more turmoil.

Oh gosh, I've never even heard of such a thing! I'll check those out. If those would just help her chill out and let the feathers grow back on the others, that would be totally worth trying. Thank you!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

How big is the coop (enclosed area where they sleep) in feet, L x W?

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Just looking at the picture i imagine space is an issue. They are a smaller breed from a quick internet search and maybe it’s just the angle of the photo that makes it look like a small run. (It’s beautiful, btw). I would just get rid of the meanie and go down to three hens unless you really need the extra egg a day.

 

[mightybeckster]

How big is the coop (enclosed area where they sleep) in feet, L x W?

Their coop is 4x4 but they're sleeping in their nesting box which is not included in that 4x4.... the nesting box area is 2x1 separated in half by a half wall. Their run is 4x15.

 

[mightybeckster]

Just looking at the picture i imagine space is an issue. They are a smaller breed from a quick internet search and maybe it’s just the angle of the photo that makes it look like a small run. (It’s beautiful, btw). I would just get rid of the meanie and go down to three hens unless you really need the extra egg a day.

It's hard to take photos of the run. It's 15 feet long and 4 feet wide. If I knew then what I know now, I'd have made it wider. I keep wanting to add more perchy things and am running out of ideas for how to do that while still being able to get in there to close the pop door! My husband would shoot me if I bought an automatic door. These little boogers cost me a fortune to get set up in the first place.

 

[FrostRanger]

What's their diet like including treats?

 

[mightybeckster]

What's their diet like including treats?

Every morning they get a small tub (probably 4 cups-ish) of fruit and veggie scraps, every evening they get a small scoop (1/2 cups-ish) of mealworms. Their bagged feed (Cluckin' Good Layer Portion-19% protein with main sources including peas, sunflower mea, and milk protein) is always available to them in their feeder as are small bowls of oyster shells and grit. Oh, and I always like to have something hanging in their treat net/treat cage so there's either an apple or a sweet pepper for them to peck at.

 

[FrostRanger]

Every morning they get a small tub (probably 4 cups-ish) of fruit and veggie scraps, every evening they get a small scoop (1/2 cups-ish) of mealworms. Their bagged feed (Cluckin' Good Layer Portion-19% protein with main sources including peas, sunflower mea, and milk protein) is always available to them in their feeder as are small bowls of oyster shells and grit. Oh, and I always like to have something hanging in their treat net/treat cage so there's either an apple or a sweet pepper for them to peck at.

I'd cut way back on treats, generally you want to keep treats to less than 10% of their diet. The extras might be causing a nutritional imbalance which may be contributing factor to her behavior issues. If the change in diet and pinless peepers don't work then I'd remove her from the flock and just keep the 3 for now