Chicken bully

[Crazyfarmlady25]

I have 11 hens (no rooster personal preference) all are under a year but 3 are older (4-5 months of age back in july), 2 are about a month behind the 3 oldest ones, then there are 6 that we got as week old chicks at beginning of July. The 3 oldest are black australorp, 1/2 cochin 1/2 americana, and a starlight green egger. Then the 2 after them are French black copper marans. The 6 babies are a RIR, barred Plymouth rock, 2 americana (EE) , and 2 sapphire gems. The main bully is the starlight green egger (though wasn't that bad til end of november) She would just get bossy at the water or food and once in a while on the roosting bar when first went in at night. At the end of November beginning of December the 2 americana/ee's seemed to be sick (back to back) one day the first one just stood around puffed up looking uncomfortable so I separated her into our garage where could keep an eye on her and keep her warm (was having cold winter weather) after 2-3 days and some poultry cell she perked up so I reintroduced her to the flock at night and all was good with her. About a week later the other one was looking the same all puffed up looking. Separated her to our garage. We tried poultry cell and she didn't turn around like the other but wasn't getting worse. We then got recover 911 and started her on that plus tried a epsom bath incase was egg bound (though didn't feel like it) bout 4-5 days and started acting better. She was kept an extra day in the garage since my kids and I wouldn't be home one day cus of a family Christmas party and hubby had work so reintroduced her once got home (again at night). I know the 2nd one gets picked on still (not sure if bullying is what led to them getting sick). I have seen my starlight pick on both of my sapphire gems when they are on the roosting bar at night (straight pecking to the face/eye repeatedly) but will give up after a bit. She also will peck anyone close to her when she is at the waterer or feeders (like telling them they can't eat/drink til she is done) she doesn't fight when I give them scratch though. My daughter (the other chicken tender) said she has seen our 1/2 cochin also pecking others but I haven't witnessed it. I'm wondering if I need to try and separate the bully into a kennel in the run so they can all see each other just not be pecked by her? If I do that do I need to let her out at night so can go in the coop or just put the crate in the coop? Or do I need to remove her from sight to maybe reset who is the higher up? Or is the slight bullying ( never seen any blood on the victim or bully after) normal and nothing I need to fix? Pics of the 2 when sick. The dark one (Felicia) was the first one I think is the one who layed the big egg in last pic though she didn't feel egg bound. The red one is petunia she is the one in front of Felicia in the first pic.

 

[thecatumbrella]

I hate self-promoting, but you might want to check out my article here. There's a lot of chicken behavior that can look like bullying, but isn't. Some birds are just sassier than others, some birds are perpetual victims, and some are true bullies that are out for blood.

The big question is, does your Starlight Green Egger go out of her way to follow, harass, and beat up the birds under her? Or is it more of a, "If you cross my path, you're going to get smacked!"? Figuring out where you stand will help determine what you need to do next.

In the meantime, extra feeders and waterers that are out of sight from each other will help. Give everyone as much space as possible and some extra distractions. Mine have gone bananas for something as simple as a couple of upturned Home Depot buckets they can kick at and play king of the hill on. Flock blocks are also a hit, but they are chicken junk food.

Having two sick birds (even if they're recovered) can definitely change the flock dynamics.

 

[Mrs. K]

My question is on you space. What was enough space for when they or even half of them were chicks, may not be enough space for full grown birds. Do note that being raised up together, or being let out to 'free range for a couple of hours' does not make up for not enough space.

11 hens need a coop of 44 square feet - so a shed about 6 x 8. The run should be around 110 square feet so 10 x 11 or more. Some birds can tolerate a little over crowding, and some cannot tolerate it at all and become aggressive to get their space.

I would consider culling one or two birds, and see if the remaining ones relax. Once I got into this bind, and I had a predator break in and remove several. I was just sick, but with in days, I noticed that there was a lot less tension in the flock. They got along better with less chickens. I took note of that number and come the fall, that number was in the coop. You can cheat a bit in the summer as chicks are small.

You could try pin less peepers on a couple of the mean birds. A lot of people have had good response to that.

 

[Crazyfarmlady25]

My question is on you space. What was enough space for when they or even half of them were chicks, may not be enough space for full grown birds. Do note that being raised up together, or being let out to 'free range for a couple of hours' does not make up for not enough space.

11 hens need a coop of 44 square feet - so a shed about 6 x 8. The run should be around 110 square feet so 10 x 11 or more. Some birds can tolerate a little over crowding, and some cannot tolerate it at all and become aggressive to get their space.

I would consider culling one or two birds, and see if the remaining ones relax. Once I got into this bind, and I had a predator break in and remove several. I was just sick, but with in days, I noticed that there was a lot less tension in the flock. They got along better with less chickens. I took note of that number and come the fall, that number was in the coop. You can cheat a bit in the summer as chicks are small.

You could try pin less peepers on a couple of the mean birds. A lot of people have had good response to that.

Our shed is a 8x6 and our run is 16x6 planning once ground thaws will be adding more to the run and may make the coop a bit bigger. I don't want to cull any and I've only noticed bullying when first out for the day and all going to the waterer and once in a while when first eating for the day. Sometimes I hear some squaking and see birds run away from another then it's over. At night it's just I think getting settled in and we just added another roosting bar to give them even more room

 

[FrostRanger]

Sounds like normal pecking order stuff. Dominant birds will peck lower ranking birds. As long as it's not incessant and no one is getting hurt all is well. Extra feeders are still a good idea and that run is quite narrow so expanding will help and will enable you to add some clutter to break line of sight. Won't eliminate the pecking entirely (as I said, SOME pecking and brief chasing are normal and expected) but it will help keep tensions down