Help! My Buff Orpington is being attacked.

[Amanda0419]

Today I noticed that my buff Orpington is being attacked by three of her four coop mates. She used to be high in the pecking order so I am confused as to why now all of a sudden they are attacking her. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to isolate her because I think that would make it worse but I also don’t know how to isolate the 3 bullies.

 

[M-H-Fielding]

Today I noticed that my buff Orpington is being attacked by three of her four coop mates. She used to be high in the pecking order so I am confused as to why now all of a sudden they are attacking her. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to isolate her because I think that would make it worse but I also don’t know how to isolate the 3 bullies.

Maybe she is injured? Flock members with injuries will sometime get a beating from the rest of the flock.

 

[Amanda0419]

I don’t think she is injured. She was running around the yard and acting normal while she was free ranging.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Pecking order is fluid and flock behavior can change from almost anything (molting, illness, broodiness, addition/subtraction of birds) so possibly she got knocked down a few pegs due to one or more reasons and now the others are telling her, "You stay down there!"

 

[aart]

How old is she, in months?
She may be molting......or thinking about going broody.

 

[Amanda0419]

She is 31 months old. She usually is my broody chicken. She has gone broody 2 times so far but she isn’t broody now and she already molted. I know the pecking order has changed. One of my barred rocks use to be at the bottom and she would be pecked on all the time. Then she molted first and all her feathers grew back first and she had this new confidence about her and assumed the top of the pecking order. This time is a little different. Three out of four of her sisters bully her. They won’t let her out of the coop. I’m sure this is just normal chicken behavior but it breaks my heart. I don’t know what to do.