Flock management: bullying? Pecking order?

[FeatherAndBloom]

I would love some help brainstorming about my flock, current coop and run set up, and support for my ever-insecure new chicken mama brain.

Essentially my 12x17 week old mixed flock of hens are FINE right now. We had a rooster who was rehomed last week and they relaxed so much after he left.

The hen who slid into top spot was the Dominique and she was the only one without some tail feather damage. All the rest have either a few little chomps (v sections removed) or more tattered with long feathers pulled out. 4 days ago I put peepers on the Dominique and she has responded very well to them (eating, drinking, bathing, perching scratching) and still pecks “at” some hens but isn’t able to do damage.

I had cleaned all the feathers I could find up so I could gauge if more were being pulled or not, and today I’m still seeing fresh ones on the ground, though less than before.

So what’s my next move? Peepers on the 2nd and 3rd in command who I’ve seen occasionally peck?

The real question is this: is this all normal pecking order establishment or is the feather damage showing stress of some kind. I have a sneaking suspicion that I’ve put too many hens in the space (I’m over eager for suuuuuure) and that for everyone’s peace I should rehome 1 or 2. But also, I know I’m meeting the recommended minimums, so maybe it’s something else. Here’s the whole set up so you get a full picture:

They have a 8x6 foot coop with 18 feet of well spaced roost, 5 nesting boxes, windows and ventilation. The attached walk in deep litter run is 8x22 feet including space under the coop for them to find shade and chill. The run has a 1/2 roof and includes a camelia tree for extra shade. They’ve got perches, a tire dust bath, 2 waters, 3 food trays, a bench and log for chilling out.

They get 2 feedings of fermented 17% scratch and peck grower mash morning and evening and the trays are barely cleaned by the time I’m replenishing. I throw them kitchen veggie scraps and greens/ flowers from my garden (borage, nasturtiums, marigolds etc) to scratch at and some cold fruit when it’s hot. Not doing tons of other treats cause they are gonna lay soon and I want them to be peak healthy! I even got my first eggs from my early later- a 17 week old Sapphire Splash. 3 perfect eggs in 4 days. #2 and #3 grit on the side and oyster shell now that I’ve got a layer.

Most days they spend their time dust bathing, preening, perching, scratching, or hanging out. Truly I’m not seeing any other stress behaviors besides the tail pecking targeting mostly the bottom 1/2 of the flock. See pics for feather damage, coop and run set up etc.

I am open to brutal honesty! If I have too many chickens tell me and I’ve got plenty of good homes I can send 1 or 2 too. I can add stuff and take away in the coop and run, but I can’t change the height of the coop or get a new one. That’s out of the budget for now since this is our first set up and has already cost an arm and a leg.

Thank you for reading this far!!

 

[DobieLover]

is this all normal pecking order establishment

Not really but I really don't see severe damage on your birds. They look pretty good to me. The rooster damage is going to take until after they've molted to resolve itself. And there could be damaged feathers that you were not able to clean up. Have you actually witnessed the Dominique pecking at the other pullets?
The only thing I would do is offer them meat protein. You can either give them tins of sardines, cans of tuna, cans of quality cat food, the carcass of a rotisserie chicken to pick apart, whatever you have. I would supplement them with meat protein three times a week. See if that doesn't help.

But unless you actually see them picking at each other's feathers, I'm not inclined to think you really have that much of a problem based on the photos you provided. Usually when hens pick each other's feathers, they ripped them out, they don't break them. Cockerels without enough experience break them while they're trying to keep their balance for mating.

I think you've done quite a nice job adding lots of ventilation to your coop and enrichment to your run. And it does look properly sized for the birds you have but I would not add any more.

 

[FeatherAndBloom]

Not really but I really don't see severe damage on your birds. They look pretty good to me. The rooster damage is going to take until after they've molted to resolve itself. And there could be damaged feathers that you were not able to clean up. Have you actually witnessed the Dominique pecking at the other pullets?
The only thing I would do is offer them meat protein. You can either give them tins of sardines, cans of tuna, cans of quality cat food, the carcass of a rotisserie chicken to pick apart, whatever you have. I would supplement them with meat protein three times a week. See if that doesn't help.

But unless you actually see them picking at each other's feathers, I'm not inclined to think you really have that much of a problem based on the photos you provided. Usually when hens pick each other's feathers, they ripped them out, they don't break them. Cockerels without enough experience break them while they're trying to keep their balance for mating.

I think you've done quite a nice job adding lots of ventilation to your coop and enrichment to your run. And it does look properly sized for the birds you have but I would not add any more.

TYSM!

Yes, I’ve seen the Dominque severely peck at the other chickens so much that they make a loud squawk. And then she shakes the feathers she pulls out onto the ground. Ive seen that targeted pretty much at every other chicken in the flock with a few outliers who she can’t catch or who are targeted more. I feel good about the peepers on her for now, especially since she’s adapted to them and seems to be acting normally without much stress or obvious discomfort. The behavior from her has stopped.

As for the others who have the least damage (a Buckeye, an EE and a BO) I will watch them carefully to see if there’s another problem, but you’re probably right it doesn’t require peeper intervention at this point with the general reduction of feathers and squawks.

My polish’s butt doesn’t look great, def more feathers pulled than I can show in that pic (she is soooooo skittish). She used to have pretty saddle feathers that went down the side of her full tail and now she has 4 tail feathers and no saddles And I know the rooster never mounted her, so someone was doing the pecking. I’ll keep my eyes sharp!

This is encouraging though! I have received a few side eye shock faces when I say I have 12 chickens in there and a few suggestions about reducing flock to ease stress, which is what led me to post here in the first place. Thanks for the encouragement about the run and all the work I’ve done to make it a nice life for them

More protein is no problem I can do tuna cans cause I buy those anyways for my kids haha!

One question I have about my roost bars which would make sense why tails are being targeted…. With the height of my coop and my 6ish inch deep litter the roosts are only 18 inches off the ground at most. Is that a problem for the chickens on the ground to be able to reach the chickens on the roosts?

Just thought of that…

 

[DobieLover]

Is that a problem for the chickens on the ground to be able to reach the chickens on the roosts?

Horizontal spacing being too close would be more problematic than vertical. I don't think 18" is low enough for them to reach them.

 

[FeatherAndBloom]

You can either give them tins of sardines, cans of tuna, cans of quality cat food, the carcass of a rotisserie chicken to pick apart, whatever you have. I would supplement them with meat protein three times a week.

How many cans of tuna would you give for a flock of 12? 2? I also give them my kids scrambled eggs if they don’t finish. Which of course they are obsessed with!

 

[DobieLover]

One or two.

 

[FeatherAndBloom]

One or two.

Thank you