Flock of 5 one big bully

[emilyweir]

Hello,
I have 5 chickens ( 1 EE, BPR, black sexlink, French copper black maran, white leghorn) that hatched in May and now are all laying consistently. Since maturity our sexlink is a bit of a jerk. She has started plucking out 2 of the other hen’s butt feathers. A neighbor gave me some stuff to put on the bare bums to help heal/ regrow and discourage the picking but now she has just started bullying the other two that she had previously left alone. She was my favorite chick and now she’s my least favorite. What do I do to discourage this behavior?


Not the best pictures but here’s the bare bums. The leghorn has the paste on, hence the discoloration.

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC. If you put your general location into your profile people can give you better-targeted advice when climate matters.

How big are your coop and run in feet or meters? Do you have any "clutter" in them to help a chicken who is being pecked to hide from a bully?

 

[emilyweir]

Welcome to BYC. If you put your general location into your profile people can give you better-targeted advice when climate matters.

How big are your coop and run in feet or meters? Do you have any "clutter" in them to help a chicken who is being pecked to hide from a bully?

I think I added my location sufficiently. But we don’t have much clutter, our run is quite long and skinny so I’ll have to be creative but that is a good idea. We are at the minimums for recommended space. Our coop is 4x6 and run is 4x15. The run is completely secure so the coop door is always open. I’ve wondered about boredom so I daily try to provide some greens, fruit or squash to give them a bit of entertainment. Our yard is small and we hope to expand the run next year but this year it was all we could do secure it all before I had a baby

 

[Tonyroo]

Get rid of the plucker or cull her. It's a habit that's hard to break on a bird. Plus your other birds will be stressed from this constant nuisance. Which in turn may cause them to follow her habit or live a life in fear of the flock.

If you can dish up several hours everyday, sit there and watch them. See what's triggering this bad behavior and how your other birds react to it. You might be able to solve your own problem.

 

[3KillerBs]

But we don’t have much clutter, our run is quite long and skinny so I’ll have to be creative but that is a good idea. We are at the minimums for recommended space. Our coop is 4x6 and run is 4x15.

The skinny run could be part of the problem. Chicken social behavior requires a subordinate bird to show acceptance of a dominant bird's authority by getting out of sight and/or passing at a respectful distance.

Since you can't expand right now maybe you can put up some visual blocks? Maybe some pallets propped upright between concrete blocks?

I'd alternate them to make and S-shaped path through the run.

Whatever clutter you add, be careful to not create any dead ends where a bird could be trapped.

Another option could be pinless peepers. I have no experience with them, but some people have found them helpful.

 

[igorsMistress]

I second the clutter with no dead ends. Another option is to remove the bully from the flock for a week, the reintroduce her. She may have become lower in the pecking order.

I have a speckled sussex who is a real and I’m about to do this with her. She’s mean enough to make the other girls holler.

 

[emilyweir]

I second the clutter with no dead ends. Another option is to remove the bully from the flock for a week, the reintroduce her. She may have become lower in the pecking order.

I have a speckled sussex who is a real and I’m about to do this with her. She’s mean enough to make the other girls holler.

For the first time today she drew blood on one of my other hens. What do you use to separate them? I have a spare dog kennel but that doesn’t seem very kind to lock her in such a small space.

 

[emilyweir]

The skinny run could be part of the problem. Chicken social behavior requires a subordinate bird to show acceptance of a dominant bird's authority by getting out of sight and/or passing at a respectful distance.

Since you can't expand right now maybe you can put up some visual blocks? Maybe some pallets propped upright between concrete blocks?

I'd alternate them to make and S-shaped path through the run.

Whatever clutter you add, be careful to not create any dead ends where a bird could be trapped.

Another option could be pinless peepers. I have no experience with them, but some people have found them helpful.

Thank you for the tips. I ordered some peepers but they won’t arrive until tomorrow.

 

[igorsMistress]

For the first time today she drew blood on one of my other hens. What do you use to separate them? I have a spare dog kennel but that doesn’t seem very kind to lock her in such a small space.

I lock them in a different coop with a small outdoor space sectioned off, but the dog kennel wouldn’t kill her. You could always let her out to free range a little bit close to dusk. This would only be for a week and then reintroduce. If she’s drawing blood that’s really not good though. I draw the line there.

 

[3KillerBs]

I have a spare dog kennel but that doesn’t seem very kind to lock her in such a small space.

It's only for a short time.

And it's kinder to the others than to allow her to keep beating them up.