Help! Chicken tears ends of beaks off of power hens

[thatchickenmama]

Please help! I have one a-hole chicken who grabs the beaks of my other hens and twists and tears their beaks. She follows them around and yanks food out of their mouths. When the other three hens of the flock are together, there are no issues. This one was brought home two days later, all were raised from chicks by hand. My two poor sweet girls are either having their feathers plucked or today, the other one’s front part of her beak was torn off. Neither of these girls are or have ever shown any aggression. It’s what I believe to be food aggression from what I am now recognizing as the bully. In fact, one of the three original hens became dominant and now mounts the other sweet girls, like she was taught that behavior. I correct either of them by throwing the offending one in the run and letting the other girls forage. I give them organic, corn free, soy free feed, they have plenty of room in their run (it’s over twice the recommended size for them) and they get to free range for a couple of hours every day. It’s cooling down, though it hasn’t been hot it is supposed to be for the next few days. I don’t know if we are separating her long enough. We have given them some natural dewormers and can look at other options as well. At this point, I don’t know if it might be better for her to be in a more dominant flock elsewhere. I don’t eat my sweet girls to live a tortured life!

 

[tripletfeb]

Separate the bully into her own cage, a dog crate works well. Give her food and water but make sure she can't see the other chickens. Leave her in there for at least a week, try reintroducing. If she keeps up the bad behavior, try pinless peepers or cull her. Always solve for peace of the flock

 

[dawg53]

Separate the bully into her own cage, a dog crate works well. Give her food and water but make sure she can't see the other chickens. Leave her in there for at least a week, try reintroducing. If she keeps up the bad behavior, try pinless peepers or cull her. Always solve for peace of the flock

x2. Pinless peepers work.

 

[thatchickenmama]

Thank you so much for the suggestions! We will definitely keep them in mind. We have a dog kennel set up if need be. So far we nursed our hen with the broken tip with antiseptic spray for chickens, vetericyn and ointment. We added two more feeders in different areas that night that stay in there as well. That seems to be helping a lot. I think it was very likely that we may have been under feeding them.

For the painless peepers, do they affect their beaks or ability to eat? Do you leave them on all the time?

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Thank you so much for the suggestions! We will definitely keep them in mind. We have a dog kennel set up if need be. So far we nursed our hen with the broken tip with antiseptic spray for chickens, vetericyn and ointment. We added two more feeders in different areas that night that stay in there as well. That seems to be helping a lot. I think it was very likely that we may have been under feeding them.

For the painless peepers, do they affect their beaks or ability to eat? Do you leave them on all the time?

Here is an example of what they are.

https://www.amazon.com/Weilan-Pheas...&sprefix=pinless+peepers,aps,4054&sr=8-5&th=1