Help!!!!!

[blackyandstella]

So I got a new chicken and she was an adult and I quarantined her for a bit and put her in my flock and my dominate hen is making her comb bleed and the new one sounds like she is crying and pulls the new ones feathers out please help I don't wanna get rid of her (and the mean one also picks my big chickens feathers out) please help!!!

 

[chooks4life]

Bit of a rushed post there? I couldn't tell if you mean you don't want to get rid of the mean one, or the new one.

The most guaranteed permanent solution to a mean bird problem is to cull it, whether culling means rehoming it or killing it. Sometimes permanent separation is used for the same purpose.

There are however temporary solutions, some of which will work long term; you never know until you try.

One is to rearrange the pecking order. Remove the mean hen for a few days, out of sight of the flock, and when you reintroduce her, all her previous subordinates will have stepped up a rank in the hierarchy and she will have a lot to keep her busy, which will stop her focusing on her favorite victims so much. When the dominant one is removed for a while the second-in-charge, and the third-in-charge, and so forth, will all step up a rank and they won't step back down again willingly in most cases. In the meanwhile, all the other birds are concentrating on sorting out the pecking order among the birds they're familiar with and a new bird that's right at the bottom of the pecking order is usually ignored.

Sometimes though when you remove a mean dominant bird, the next in charge will become mean, and if you remove that one, the next in charge to that bird will also become mean, and so forth. But it's not a golden rule. Removing a bully is always a good idea, in my experience.

Best wishes, please let us know how it goes.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Bit of a rushed post there? I couldn't tell if you mean you don't want to get rid of the mean one, or the new one.

The most guaranteed permanent solution to a mean bird problem is to cull it, whether culling means rehoming it or killing it. Sometimes permanent separation is used for the same purpose.

There are however temporary solutions, some of which will work long term; you never know until you try.

One is to rearrange the pecking order. Remove the mean hen for a few days, out of sight of the flock, and when you reintroduce her, all her previous subordinates will have stepped up a rank in the hierarchy and she will have a lot to keep her busy, which will stop her focusing on her favorite victims so much. When the dominant one is removed for a while the second-in-charge, and the third-in-charge, and so forth, will all step up a rank and they won't step back down again willingly in most cases. In the meanwhile, all the other birds are concentrating on sorting out the pecking order among the birds they're familiar with and a new bird that's right at the bottom of the pecking order is usually ignored.

Sometimes though when you remove a mean dominant bird, the next in charge will become mean, and if you remove that one, the next in charge to that bird will also become mean, and so forth. But it's not a golden rule. Removing a bully is always a good idea, in my experience.

Best wishes, please let us know how it goes.

This.

Also, you can try putting pinless peepers on the bully. They work wonders, in my experience. You can then remove them in a month or two and see if the bullying has stopped. If it hasn't, then you can put them back on her. You can buy peepers from most poultry supply companies and from eBay.