Dead chicken and ganging up

[wilessiuc]

I had 10 chickens, 8 hens, 2 roosters. 5-6 months old, all raised together. 2 were Spitz hens, so they were quite a bit smaller. 2 days ago I notice one spitz dead under the roost. No apparent signs of injury. Since then, all other chickens pick on remaining spitz. She hides all day. When I try to get her out into the run, the others charge her causing her to flee into coop. Any suggestions?

 

[Sonya9]

I had 10 chickens, 8 hens, 2 roosters. 5-6 months old, all raised together. 2 were Spitz hens, so they were quite a bit smaller. 2 days ago I notice one spitz dead under the roost. No apparent signs of injury. Since then, all other chickens pick on remaining spitz. She hides all day. When I try to get her out into the run, the others charge her causing her to flee into coop. Any suggestions?

I might think about separating her (and definitely would if they start to hurt her). You could put her in another area possibly with one of the lower ranking hens that might not pick on her. I would also look into getting a couple of more Spitz hens.

What breed are the others?

 

[wilessiuc]

I might think about separating her (and definitely would if they start to hurt her). You could put her in another area possibly with one of the lower ranking hens that might not pick on her. I would also look into getting a couple of more Spitz hens.

What breed are the others?

Head of the flock is a Maran rooster, he leaves her alone. Others are all sex link/leghorn mixes, they all peck and chase her.

 

[aart]

How much room in your coop(feet by feet)?
Did the bullying of the smaller hens just start, none of it before the one died?

 

[Rewster]

I would definitely remove her for a while and attempt to find another.

I received a Blue Cochin as my free "rare breed" with my McMurray order last year. She is beautiful, but apparently since she is
different then the Buff Orpingtons and others in the pen, they picked on her.

It is sad to see because she is so beautiful and easy to get along with. I will be adding more of this breed to the order
in the spring to see if she finds a friend. They don't pick on her so much anymore since she is pretty large, but they don't
allow her to participate in any "chicken games".

 

[wilessiuc]

How much room in your coop(feet by feet)?
Did the bullying of the smaller hens just start, none of it before the one died?

Coop is 8x8 and I have a large run. I removed her today because she has lost a lot of weight from being too scared to eat. Bullying didn't start until her sister died.

If I keep her removed to fatten up, should I try to reintroduce her to the flock?

 

[wilessiuc]

I would definitely remove her for a while and attempt to find another.

I received a Blue Cochin as my free "rare breed" with my McMurray order last year. She is beautiful, but apparently since she is
different then the Buff Orpingtons and others in the pen, they picked on her.

It is sad to see because she is so beautiful and easy to get along with. I will be adding more of this breed to the order
in the spring to see if she finds a friend. They don't pick on her so much anymore since she is pretty large, but they don't
allow her to participate in any "chicken games".

I removed her because she has lost a lot of weight. I assume bullying will continue when I reintroduce her though??

 

[Rewster]

They may still bully her when she is reintroduced, but they might find something else to do.
Also, is your pen area large enough for the number of birds in it? Sometimes overcrowding leads to pecking.
If she has lost weight due to the constant pecking then it's a good thing you removed her. Get her back up to weight and see what happens. I have had to actually stay in my pen and referee before. Kind of like a recess monitor lol

 

[aart]

Quote: This is a tuffy....removing her from the flock to feed her up and give her a break might be a good move, she will get to eat and maybe gain some confidence.
BUT re-integration will be another problem and could make the picking on issue worse.

I wonder if the other bird that died was ill and this one may be ill too...flocks will try to drive off a sick bird.

There are a couple ways to deal with it.
Put her back in with the flock and provide multiple feed/water stations, places to 'hide out if line of sight' but not dead end traps and extra roosts get up and away from aggressors and let her find her way. Squirt gunning any aggressors can help but takes a lot time to monitor.

Or....this takes time and energy too:
Create separate but adjacent areas in coop and run where they can see but not touch each other.
Let her live there for a week or so to gain some weight and rest, feed treats along the barrier so they get used to eating near each other.
This will allow the spitz to make the area her own.
It's all about territory and resources(space/food/water), this time you will be putting a 'new' bird into 'her' territory and it's only one so it evens the odds in a 'fight'.
So then put one of the more docile of the flock in with her and see how it goes, remove bird back to flock if overly aggressive and try another one.
Mix and match them like this until you get someone to get along with the spitz, then add an additional bird in with them.
You are trying to create some camaraderie or a 'unit', once the spitz has some 'friends' you can try to rejoin the flock together.

Just some ideas....or you could just get rid of the spitz and leave the rest of the flock to exist as they are.

 

[donrae]

I think you may have to consider either selling her or housing her apart from the other birds. Now that she's on her own, I'm not sure they're going to accept her since she looks so different. You might consider getting a similar ornamental hen to keep her company.