Help I have a mean chicken and also not laying

[lilofthestars]

Hello All. I have 4 chickens, Two dark Brahmas, one small white leghorn, one I was told was a Americana.
All I raised from chicks, except the leg horn. we bought her from a neighbor she was 5 months old.
My Americana is about a year, the Brahmas are 9 months . The Americana is very mean to the Brahmas. My
husband said is barn yard politics. I cannot stand it. I read the older chickens will always be the top chickens.
She will go after them for no reason and hurt them. I feel so bad for the smaller Brahma even her sister picks on her.
They are molting now. we have 4 chickens and only the small leg horn is given us eggs. The American was molting
she has stopped but still no eggs for two months. I read they do not lay while molting. I will send pictures on my Galaxy.
The leg horn is not that bad. If anyone has as any information . I would greatly appreciate it. They scream when she pecks them hard. It is so sad. I wish they would stand up for themselves. Thank you

 

[lilofthestars]

I am including pictures

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[EggSighted4Life]

Hi.

The 9 month olds should not be molting. It is true they don't lay when they molt. But I also don't think they start again until day light starts increasing.

It is not true that the oldest will always be the top. But it can take a while for the dynamics to work themselves out. Chances are they may be stressed.

Some questions... what are you feeding including treats, how big is coop and run, free range, supplemental lighting?

It is barn yard politics until it becomes focused to the point of causing harm.

 

[lilofthestars]

We have a chicken tractor, it is pretty large with a run connectedI will include a picture. I'll let them out in the evening for 2 to 3 hours. I wasletting them out in the morning but one day we had to look for them for 2 hours they was hiding. Chickens are smarter than we think LOL I was feeding them organic laying pellets. Plus for a snack I give them the dry worms. And bread organic I also give them fruit watermelon blackberries blueberries not everyday but sometimes every other day. Now I read that I had to buy feather fix food which I did and I'm mixing it with the organic layerfood. One of the brahmas the smaller one she looks really stressed. She is getting picked on by all of them.I clean the coop every day.

 

[lilofthestars]

We do not have supplement lighting.

 

[chickens really]

Chickens require more space than what is stated......Your pen is small and Boredom brings on aggression ............


Enrich their lives by building a nice size run......


Cheers!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

What does feather fixing feed do... I mean how?

All those snack may be decreasing your nutritional value and causing some of your problem. Layer feed is low in protein. I would go with a 20% protein or higher like Purina Flock Raiser. It has only 1% calcium so won't be harmful to the non layers. And provide free choice oyster shell on the side for layers. That should also help to grow in feathers.

Too much calcium as in Layer feed can cause long term kidney issues in non layers.

Sometimes when I have a girl come up missing for a couple of hours, she is hiding a nest.

You might consider putting the aggressor in a time out, look but don't touch pen for a couple days and then reintroduce.

 

[aart]

What does feather fixing feed do... I mean how?

All those snack may be decreasing your nutritional value and causing some of your problem. Layer feed is low in protein. I would go with a 20% protein or higher like Purina Flock Raiser. It has only 1% calcium so won't be harmful to the non layers. And provide free choice oyster shell on the side for layers. That should also help to grow in feathers.

Too much calcium as in Layer feed can cause long term kidney issues in non layers.

Sometimes when I have a girl come up missing for a couple of hours, she is hiding a nest.

You might consider putting the aggressor in a time out, look but don't touch pen for a couple days and then reintroduce.

Feather Fixer is a marketing scam ...errrr...hook.
It has higher protein(18% I think) but still has quite a bit of calcium.
When it first came out it exuberantly touted it's proprietary mite repelling attributes...it strangely no longer advertises that.
Was later speculated by users that the "proprietary mite repelling attributes' was the addition of a sulfur component.....
....which is a proven pest deterrent, but sheesh.

Agrees that an 'all flock' type feed and oyster shells on the side is the way to go.
I like to feed a flock raiser/grower/finisher 20% protein crumble full time to all ages and genders, as non-layers(chicks, males and molting birds) do not need the extra calcium that is in layer feed and chicks and molters can use the extra protein. Makes life much simpler to store and distribute one type of chow that everyone can eat. I do grind up the crumbles (in the blender) for the chicks for the first week or so.

The higher protein crumble also offsets the 8% protein scratch grains and other kitchen/garden scraps I like to offer. I adjust the amounts of other feeds to get the protein levels desired with varying situations.

Calcium should be available at all times for the layers, I use oyster shell mixed with rinsed, dried, crushed chicken egg shells in a separate container.

Animal protein (mealworms, a little cheese - beware the salt content, meat scraps) is provided during molting and if I see any feather eating.

 

[lilofthestars]

I really thank you for taking the time to answer me to help. I am really Co fused. I do not want to hurt my chickens kidneys. I just bought a large 40 pounds bag of the feather fixer. One hen is still laying. I tried that calcium, they would not eat. None of them would eat at all.I hope I can return it now is opened. I will try that. How do I keep the hens that are not laying not to eat.Thank you again.

 

[Ducks4us]

I think they would greatly benefit from more space. That looks really small and cramped for 4 hens. Your smallest brahma needs plenty of opportunity to get away and relax where they wont pick on her.
Is the part connected with a tarp their coop part? Or run?
How many square feet is the part not covered in a tarp?