Help! Misfit hen, sick and or bullying?

[wannabefarmgal]

Hi there!
I'm new to this group as well as owning chickens! I have 6 lady hens. 1 is a Golden Laced Polish - who i'm not sure is sick? a little slow? or what....

They are still young (bought on Easter- and already had many adult feathers at that time- maybe they were 6 weeks then?)
I have them in an expend temporarily and in the garage at night because our coop is not quite done yet (ugh). Last night I noticed blood on Tina and examined her butt. It was all bloody and her thick course tail feathers were half missing and some were broken off (where a 1 inch piece was still left). This morning she was all dried up, no more bleeding. She has always separated herself from the others- she's a bit of a loner. I don't have any roosters. I thought maybe she was sick... but when I put her in the group this morning a couple went RIGHT for her but/tail area to peck. I was told about the blue spray but I don't know if that will help since they also pecked at the top (base) of her tail. I separated her all day today (in garage) and just tried again to see if it was one hen pecking- but it was 2 or 3!! I read it's not good to separate her but separate the peckers..... (but my hands are tied b/c I don't have an extra Pen right now..) I wasn't sure if she was sick? Help! what should I do??

THanks!
Sarah

 

[wannabefarmgal]

And... I also just noticed one of my light brahmas is missing some end feathers on the top side of her tail area too -but nothing like the polish.

 

[drumstick diva]

If you aren't able to keep them separate - you will probably end up with badly mutilated or dead birds. Can you borrow dog crates or something like that to put them in, to stop this while you come up with another solution - rehome them - or rehome the bully (that would be the one with no sores or missing feathers.

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi Sarah and welcome to BYC - you have some great advice already. As DD says, it could just be a bully hen that needs to be removed, but the way in which you keep your chickens could be adding (or not) to the problem. Insufficient run space, too few feeding stations and nowhere for the victims to hide / find cover can exacerbate what you are experiencing.

All the best
CT

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[wannabefarmgal]

Also strange is the polish dies these strange circles. It's like she's lost or something. She definitely perches alone