TheFugitivePen
Songster
Our top hen, Midge, is a bit of a bully.
Initially, it was nothing concerning. She was always one of the first ones to food and seemed to push others out of the way (or just step close to the food and the other pullets would move away), and she was prone to pecking anyone she thought was too close, but there was no bloodshed (except once when she pecked at another hen's torn earlobe--I couldn't tell if that was aggression or curiosity). We're also new to chicken keeping, so I didn't want to overreact to what may have just been a chicken expressing her opinion.
Yesterday, my husband caught Midge attacking another pullet in a nesting box. We have 4 nesting boxes, and only one was occupied ... and that was the ONE box Midge just HAD to have. The other pullet (who is high in the pecking order--not a low ranking) refused to move, and her comb was pulled off her scalp in the very back by an angry and insistent Midge. I was able to separate them, get the bully to stay in a different box, and clean up the wounded pullet after she had laid her egg (the poor thing was panting SO HARD she was so stressed and upset).
Last night, we took Midge off the roost and isolated her in a prepared pen in our garage/basement and let her have supervised free range time to keep her isolated from the flock. We don't have a rooster or a fence but have plenty of neighborhood dogs and predators, so our girls stay in a large run. She could see the other girls through the fence but not peck or push them. We hope that a few days of isolation and re-integration will knock her down the pecking order and diminish some of her pushy behaviors. She didn't gain her top-hen status (or bully tendencies) until our previous top hen was isolated for an injury. We're hoping the same kind of reversal happens for Midge.
Has anyone had any success redirecting or removing bully behavior? What tips do you recommend for dealing with a bossy chicken who can turn mean?
Just FYI: We have 8 black Australorps, all almost 7 months old, in a roughly 100-foot run with an 8x10 coop. All of our pullets were raised in a brooder together and, for the most part, seem to get along rather well. We believe 6 of our girls are laying, but we know 5 of our girls are definitely laying (we've caught them all in the act ... just haven't identified the potential sixth pullet). They have tons of tree cover and a little branch fort/roost my son made them. I'm working on adding more "clutter" to the run for more perching and activities. In general, they seem very chill, happy chickens who love scratching around the run for treats and dustbathing.
Initially, it was nothing concerning. She was always one of the first ones to food and seemed to push others out of the way (or just step close to the food and the other pullets would move away), and she was prone to pecking anyone she thought was too close, but there was no bloodshed (except once when she pecked at another hen's torn earlobe--I couldn't tell if that was aggression or curiosity). We're also new to chicken keeping, so I didn't want to overreact to what may have just been a chicken expressing her opinion.
Yesterday, my husband caught Midge attacking another pullet in a nesting box. We have 4 nesting boxes, and only one was occupied ... and that was the ONE box Midge just HAD to have. The other pullet (who is high in the pecking order--not a low ranking) refused to move, and her comb was pulled off her scalp in the very back by an angry and insistent Midge. I was able to separate them, get the bully to stay in a different box, and clean up the wounded pullet after she had laid her egg (the poor thing was panting SO HARD she was so stressed and upset).
Last night, we took Midge off the roost and isolated her in a prepared pen in our garage/basement and let her have supervised free range time to keep her isolated from the flock. We don't have a rooster or a fence but have plenty of neighborhood dogs and predators, so our girls stay in a large run. She could see the other girls through the fence but not peck or push them. We hope that a few days of isolation and re-integration will knock her down the pecking order and diminish some of her pushy behaviors. She didn't gain her top-hen status (or bully tendencies) until our previous top hen was isolated for an injury. We're hoping the same kind of reversal happens for Midge.
Has anyone had any success redirecting or removing bully behavior? What tips do you recommend for dealing with a bossy chicken who can turn mean?
Just FYI: We have 8 black Australorps, all almost 7 months old, in a roughly 100-foot run with an 8x10 coop. All of our pullets were raised in a brooder together and, for the most part, seem to get along rather well. We believe 6 of our girls are laying, but we know 5 of our girls are definitely laying (we've caught them all in the act ... just haven't identified the potential sixth pullet). They have tons of tree cover and a little branch fort/roost my son made them. I'm working on adding more "clutter" to the run for more perching and activities. In general, they seem very chill, happy chickens who love scratching around the run for treats and dustbathing.
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