Chicken bullying! - Help!

[Sam Berg]

Hi everyone!

We have had chickens for over a year now, we’ve had no problems with bullying up until now. We have five leghorn hens, one barnyard mix rooster and one barnyard mix hen.

About a month ago the barnyard hen was being bullied - the other chickens were pecking her where her wings meet her body. I isolated her immediately.

All was well in the coop - I reintroduced her to the flock but the bullying persisted and I have isolated her again.

As I was putting the chickens in their coop this evening I noticed one of my leghorns now has the same small start of a wound in the same place as my barnyard hen.

Any tips would be appreciated.

Our rooster is very timid around people - but I’ve seen him be aggressive towards his hens. Would it be best to rehome our rooster?

The picture attached was when our barnyard hen was first bullied and injured.

 

[ChimkinNug]

Hi everyone!

We have had chickens for over a year now, we’ve had no problems with bullying up until now. We have five leghorn hens, one barnyard mix rooster and one barnyard mix hen.

About a month ago the barnyard hen was being bullied - the other chickens were pecking her where her wings meet her body. I isolated her immediately.

All was well in the coop - I reintroduced her to the flock but the bullying persisted and I have isolated her again.

As I was putting the chickens in their coop this evening I noticed one of my leghorns now has the same small start of a wound in the same place as my barnyard hen.

Any tips would be appreciated.

Our rooster is very timid around people - but I’ve seen him be aggressive towards his hens. Would it be best to rehome our rooster?

The picture attached was when our barnyard hen was first bullied and injured.

You may want to approach the situation in the opposite of what you did. If you know which chicken is doing the bullying, isolate that chicken for a period of time. Give it enough time for the pecking order to shift around and then reintroduce and see if that chicken has a better attitude. If not, then I would consider culling (re-home or butcher, whatever you choose).

 

[Wyorp Rock]

We have five leghorn hens, one barnyard mix rooster and one barnyard mix hen.

About a month ago the barnyard hen was being bullied - the other chickens were pecking her where her wings meet her body. I isolated her immediately.

All was well in the coop - I reintroduced her to the flock but the bullying persisted and I have isolated her again.

I noticed one of my leghorns now has the same small start of a wound in the same place as my barnyard hen.

Our rooster is very timid around people - but I’ve seen him be aggressive towards his hens. Would it be best to rehome our rooster?

Welcome To BYC

The location of the bare spot on the wing shoulder is typical from being mounted and mated. This is where a rooster would normally place his feet and the feathers get worn or rubbed off.

Once the area gets bare or damaged and new feather emerge, feather picking of pin feathers or bleeding feathers may be seen. Chickens are attracted to blood, so they may have been picking at her and making it worse.

Since you are seeing the typical pattern appear on another hen, then likely this is from rooster damage.

You can try putting hen saddles with wings on the girls to protect the feathers and lessen damage from the roost and picking from other hens. If you use saddles, it's a must to inspect fit frequently and check under the saddles for any abrasions or damage that may need to be addressed.

You can move the rooster to his own separate space to give the girls a break. Feathers that are broken and/or where the feather shaft is still intact in the skin will not be replaced until they go through a molt.

Rehome him? That would be up to you. We are not there to see how he acts with the hens. How old is he?
If you feel that he's acting badly towards the hens, then rehoming or processing him for food may be an appropriate step to take.