Chicken getting bullied very badly HELP

[mavis4]

[/IMG]Hi,I have 4 hens, a rhode rock, gold line, light Sussex and a blue tip. For about 5 months now my rhode rock has been bald as she has been being bullied. She and my gold line are like best friends and are so kind to eachother. she would never peck her however my light Sussex and blue tip would peck her whenever they get the chance. I have tried every pecking spray and every method of trying to stop pecking but nothing worked so I had to separate her. However she still sleeps with them at night in the coop as her run where she stays in the day isn't safe at night so we have no choice but to keep her with them. is there anything I can buy to hide her red skin. The only part of her that isn't bald is her head, wings and back. I feel like such a bad owner but I love her so much to every give up on her so that is so even a option. What shall I do?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

More information needed. How much space for 4 birds - square footage in the coop and in the run?
What are they eating - protein percentage of the feed, other things being fed and how much of the diet do they make up?
How are they able to peck at her underside?

When you have a bullying situation, removing the bullied won't help. You need to remove the bullies for a while so when they go back, they will be at the bottom of the totem pole. Separating an underdog, makes matters worse when they are reintroduced.

 

[mavis4]

They

More information needed. How much space for 4 birds - square footage in the coop and in the run?
What are they eating - protein percentage of the feed,  other things being fed and how much of the diet do they make up?
How are they able to peck at her underside?

When you have a bullying situation, removing the bullied won't help. You need to remove the bullies for a while so when they go back, they will be at the bottom of the totem pole. Separating an underdog, makes matters worse when they are reintroduced.

They are being fed on layers chicken pellets with fresh clean water and worming when needed. I give them a few treats a day ( corn meal worms, oats, seeds! It varies ) they also have a constant supply of grit. Their run is 2m by 3m and they are free range about 4/6 hours a day and sometimes even more. They peck her when they are all free range together but I have just separated the garden with 2 hens on each side. The problem with separateing the bulky is there is 2 of them. They are like a team. What do I do now?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Their space is probably sufficient.
I would up the protein. Your layer feed is likely 16% protein. When adding other things, you may drop the total protein intake below that threshold. Try adding some animal protein.
As for separating them, If you can separate the two docile ones, you can separate the 2 bullies. They need to be separated about 5 days or more. Then return one at a time, keeping the most aggressive one separated longer.

I'm still wondering how they could be removing feathers on her underside unless they have her on her back. Are you sure she isn't doing some of the damage to herself?

Have you checked for lice or mites?

We had a Macaw that only had feathers on its head. That's the sign of self abuse. It kept the rest of its body plucked.

You certainly need to get this figured out before molt season if you're in a climate where it gets cold.