Help! My chickens are bullying another to death!!

[BDutch]

What comes into my mind is :
Change the flocks dynamics.
1
Divide the flock in two. That is separate the 2 bullies and Lavender. Maybe you could buy a second coop (or keep them in a barn/ buy a second hand play house) where you can keep them in for several weeks and let them free range a few hours a day.
After a couple of weeks / a month you can try to add Lavender back into the main flock again. If she pecks on Penny again you need to keep her separated from the friendly flock with Penny a few weeks longer. If it goes well, wait another 2-4 weeks and try to switch one bully with two neutral chickens for a week or two. And finally put them all together again.

Give them all access to a sand bath and grit on the side. Check on lice.

Maybe some of the chickens are traumatised because the grew up in miserable circumstances? Bad behaviour and acting scared are two sides of the spectrum. If you bought the chickens as adults are it’s not obvious they all will get together in harmony in the future. But it’s worth a try.

2
Alternative way to go: Buy an older and friendly rooster. Some of them are great in flock management. Or sell the bullies to someone who is starting to keep chickens and only wants 3.

I do have more questions:
How old were the chickens when you bought them?
What kind of person did you buy the chickens from?
Do all of you’re chickens lay eggs?
Do you have a pic of the bullies as wel?

 

[Phaedra Geiermann]

What comes into my mind is :
Change the flocks dynamics.
1
Divide the flock in two. That is separate the 2 bullies and Lavender. Maybe you could buy a second coop (or keep them in a barn/ buy a second hand play house) where you can keep them in for several weeks and let them free range a few hours a day.

agree+1, Divide the flock in two can be a nice option.

This is exactly why I have two flocks now, each just 5 hens. Our two Marans are comparatively bigger, tougher and not so easygoing like others, they can chase the younger hens all day in the run.

 

[schmedlap]

Rebuilding my coop and electrifying my fence...possibly delusions of grandeur but still, we march on!
Everytime Maran is spelled Moron, this user has a hoot.

not to get off thread, but I have a copper maran that is just plain mean, so I named her Moron

 

[MIgardengal]

I had a similar issue this past spring, I had one buff orphington that was getting bullied mercilessly. Missing feathers and got to the point she was bleeding.

I really tried everything for 5 months. Isolation for the alpha birds who were picking on her, more room, items to jump on/under. Nothing stopped it. And it only continued to escalate. Her flock mates who she had grown up with, left her a bleeding mess one afternoon. I took her out, and moved her to a friends house who has chickens. She is doing very well there, and I stop by to see her on occasion. I miss having her, but it’s worth her happiness to have a home where she can be at peace.

The issue boiled down to, and what I learned. Is some breeds are more docile and have a tendency to get bullied. My flock is all EE and BR aside from her. But now after I moved her to my friends, she is in a black astralorop flock (also a docile breed) and doing well.

Later on I read a article from hobby farm that certain breeds like Orphingtons, astralorps, silkies, polish, favoroles, have a tendency to be docile and more apt to be bullied, esp in a flock with a large number of dominant breeds. It makes sense and later another chicken keeper told me the same thing.

Get her out ASAP because if they kill her or get a taste for blood you might have to kill the whole flock. Not trying to dramatize, but if you know there is a issue, don’t let it get out of control.

 

[88tinkbell]

I tried, and did not love, pinless peepers AND it didn't fix the problem of my Buff Orpington (who had grown up with the 3 other hens her whole life -2 Barred Rocks, 1 Speckled Sussex) from continuingo be picked on & bullied. For her well being, I re homed her. The bullying and beating she was taking made her literally fear for her life and hide in the coop. She was also the sweetest of the 4.

 

[olivigus]

A very similar thing happened with one of my black australorps, I noticed that Happy was spending her days in the coop because the others (many of whom she had grown up with) were suddenly bullying her mercilessly. I don't know why it started, but it was vicious and relentless. So I wound up separating her permanently and letting her live in a smaller coop and run I had used for raising chicks. It's within the big run but fenced off, and I put netting over the top so nobody could fly over and attack her. I gave her a companion--one of my younger chickens who was near the bottom of the pecking order--and they got along fine. So, if you do decide to separate Penny, you might try moving one of the others who doesn't bully in with her, so she can have company without risking her life. I had another hen who had to be separated from the flock for quite a while she recovered from flystrike. When I tried to reintegrate her, the others were not having it, so she now lives with Happy and Tiki. The three of them get along just fine in their smaller quarters (three is probably the limit I can have in there), and it's really not that much more work for me. It's worth it to have everyone getting along.