Consistent bullying issues

[Bluepheonix13255]

We've had our flock for soothing like 24 weeks, and had a consistent problem with bullying. We started off with 26 birds, but this is our first time and 6 were meat birds we just didn't have the know how to keep alive. Lost one to gangrene, one's heart outgrew him, one to intestinal problems (probly coccidiosis), and one we mercy killed early because it was clear he wouldn't make it. 2 of them however were pecked to death- til that had a hole is their side that would definitely kill them- so we killed them. We now have 6 Plymouth bluerocks, 8 black sussesxes, and 5 Easter eggers- lost one to an illness. The Easter eggers are the only consistent victims. One has no tail feathers, two are kinda bald over their tails and missing a couple of the tail feathers, and one just has some major ruffling- they don't seem to go after her as much. The 5th is a rooster, and has been almost entirely spared this.
I brought up the meat birds because when they got pecked they wouldn't even react. They could and did straight up body check the smaller ones out of their way, but would not do anything to defend themselves or run away. This is why I think the Easter eggers are not much worse off- they'll run.
This likely has to do with pecking order, but it's not like they're squaring up and getting hurt.
Other chickens are sneaking up behind them and plucking a couple feathers before they run off. I almost wanna call it canabalisic in nature- though it seems they are specifically targeting the feathers unless they're bleeding.
I've noticed a couple of chickens who do this more than others l, but have seen most of the flock do it from time to time.
In honesty I think they could live like this indefinitely. We have saddles in case things get bad, and I visit enough to be able to separate anyone who needs some time to heal. I just want better for them-
I'm asking for what the cause may be or possible solutions. I just want to understand this behaviour better.

 

[Painted Calls]

What is your setup like? Can you post pics?

What are you feeding?

 

[Bluepheonix13255]

Ok sorry about the delay- was working on our coop a bit.
The pics are from the door, from the back wall visible in the first, henhouse right side from the door, and henhouse left side from the door.
Two of the worse off chickens happened to be right there, so I snipped the pictures of them.
About laying boxes in our henhouse- those seem to be enough for winter, but I'm working on getting more in there and getting those off the ground. It's just hard to work out the logistics of how to get them installed and stable.

 

[Bluepheonix13255]

I meant to add this to the pics, but there is absolutely no way to free range even alittle. We have an acre that's wide open, and I l've actually been there to see a hawk hit the wire, and they're in the area all the time.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm asking for what the cause may be or possible solutions. I just want to understand this behaviour better.

Overcrowded is a real common cause of behavioral problems. Even if it's not the base cause, crowding can greatly magnify these issues. In feet or meters, how big is your coop? In feet or meter, how big is your run? Photos could help us understand how they are tied together. Are they typically able to get to both the coop and run or are they sometimes restricted to the coop only? Do you see this behavior everywhere or is it only in one place or at a specific time? I just saw the photos, that does look kind of small.

Light can affect behaviors. Bright lights are sometimes associated with behavioral issues in a brooder. Are they getting some dark downtime at night? That doesn't have to be from a light in the coop. Maybe there is a security camera or street light shining in through a window.

How are you feeding them? I feed a low protein feed but mine forage for a good part of what they eat. This means they have a lot of room. I haven't seen it but some people feel that they may not be getting enough protein in the feed.

They go through juvenile molts. This means you can have feathers flying around. It is normal for them to eat some of these loose feathers even if they are well fed. No big deal. But you say they are actively picking feathers, that is something totally different and your photos show that. Sometimes you get a chicken that just doesn't do right. I don't know why but behaviors aren't what they should be. And this kind of stuff can be learned behavior. It kind of sounds like that may be where you are.

So what can you do? How much room do you have, when and where does this happen? That might give you some clues. Some people suggest reducing low protein treats and/or feeding high protein treats or raising the protein content of their feed. If you can identify instigators you might try removing them from the flock and housing them separately. See if that helps the situation. I have had some successes (and some failures) in altering behaviors by isolation.

Good luck. This kind of stuff can be very frustrating.

 

[Painted Calls]

What are the dimensions (square footage) of your run and coop?

 

[Bluepheonix13255]

Ok so my measurements came out to 24x9 and 8x5 for 116 and 40, but the henhouse is in the coop so I subtracted, for
76ft^2 for the coop , and 40ft^2 for the henhouse.
As for restrictions. They come and go in the henhouse as they please- which is to say there is no difficulty. There is the occasional bit of "traffic" but it's never caused a fight or lasted longer than a few seconds to my knowledge.
The one potential issue is that we have a plain tin roof- it's alittle warm during the day and pretty cool at night, as the temperature of the tin completely dictates the temperature of the henhouse. We're getting insulation but that's how it's been.
As for lighting those two heatlamps go all night. This coming Saturday we get down to 30°F, but have been getting the mid 40s recently. Should I leave the lights off until 11:00 or 12:00? I stay up alittle late and could facilitate this without issue, but don't know enough to balance the "risk" of cold weather and too much light. Though risk is a strong word- I know the worst thing that could've happened so far is a hens comb getting alittle cold.

 

[Painted Calls]

I believe your setup is much too small for the number of birds. Haven't done the math to confirm that though.

@3KillerBs is great with coop dimensions. They should be able to tell you for sure!

 

[tripletfeb]

I agree with @Overo Mare your coop seems too small. However, I have a bully issue also and have only three hens in a 5x12 coop/run. I ordered and use pinless peepers on my one bully chicken. She has been wearing her peepers for months now. Every time I try to take them off her, she goes back to being a bully. She lays well, which is the only reason I keep her around. So, her peepers stay on and she gets to live

 

[Windrider]

Looks like the run has very little shelter to help a low pecking order hen escape the notice of the bullies. There have been many discussions on BYC about "cluttered" runs and how to break up the sight-lines so low ranking birds aren't constantly harassed. This is a good one:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/