Food monopoly

[Chichlicken]

Hey everyone!

Two weeks ago we bought two hens to free range in our garden.
One is a Sussex who is about 5 months old. She laid her first egg yesterday. The second one is a Rhode Island Red chicken of about 4 months old, she didn't start to lay eggs yet.

The Sussex chicken is really having a monopoly on food. If she notices the Redco eating, she will charge at her (even from the other side of the garden) to get her away from the food. She will lay down in front of the food so the Redco can't eat.

The Redco isn't so big and for some reason has x-legs and walks a bit silly. She's very scared of us. The Sussex isn't scared of anything and can be patted.

How do I fix the food thing? The Redco is underweight and really needs to eat. She doesn't seem happy and is mostly scared. My heart breaks ((

Thanks

 

[Chichlicken]

Little addendum

The Redco gets chased away during dust baths as well. I was feeding them a few maggots and it happened again. I feel so bad for her

 

[jeepguy982001]

sounds like she is the low one on the totem pole. only thing i can think of is maybe having 2 feeders.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I would provide more than one feeding station - a good distance apart. I would also, for the immediate "fattening up" provide some hand feedings of the little one to assure she gets some good, high protein, booster food (ie a boiled or scrambled egg). By 'hand feeding' you don't have to actually feed by hand, more a matter of just separating the two (ie turning one in the run and one in the coop) and giving her the chance to eat undisturbed.
Are these two birds the only birds you have? If so, increasing the size of your flock can help. I wouldn't suggest this with a violent bully, but it sounds like your bully bird has not progressed to violence, so having more birds can change the dynamics and may alleviate this behavior.

 

[Chichlicken]

Hey! Thank you both for the advice.

What do you mean with violence? She makes a growling sound and picks at the small one. No use of claws or so.

These are the only two birds I have. If I get a third one, should I get a bigger Sussex or a smaller Redco? Or doesn't size matter for group dynamics

I have a house with two nest boxes of 30x34 cm each, and a living room attached to it of 45x40 cm. I don't know if that's big enough for three birds.

During the day they're always free ranging in the garden (60m2). We bought them to manage the weeds and bugs in our garden, the eggs are a bonus we have tomato plants in the garden, luckily they decided they don't like those ))

 

[user213590]

Do you mubd my asking what price did the girls fetch?

 

[Chichlicken]

I paid €10 for the Sussex and €9 for the Redco.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

..... The Sussex chicken is really having a monopoly on food. If she notices the Redco eating, she will charge at her (even from the other side of the garden) to get her away from the food. She will lay down in front of the food so the Redco can't eat...
... How do I fix the food thing? The Redco is underweight and really needs to eat. She doesn't seem happy and is mostly scared. My heart breaks...

What you are seeing is the normal everyday workings of the pecking order. The only way to make things better for Redco without treating the other hen cruelly is to put in a couple of more feeding stations so that the Uber Hen has a harder time monopolizing the food or other resources. Monopolizing resources is what the pecking order is all about.