I have a batch of 5 week old hens.....I then got another batch of hens 2 days later.....one been who is 8 weeks old (buff orph) is picking on all of them! I have read order is what they do, but when will it stop?! The others are terrified and hide in a corner. I've put the buff in time out quite a bit, but she's still doing it. Will she hurt them badly?
Some birds (especially hens, in my experience) are just born dominant and pick on other birds. Five weeks does tend to be a hormonal stage, but it is possible that this is simply the chick's personality. How long have you tried keeping the picker in "time out."? If you haven't already done so, I would probably keep her separate for at least a week. Hopefully, that would give the other birds time to gather confidence, and once re-introduced, she would be the "new" bird that starts lower in the pecking order. Other than that, there isn't much you can do. The behavior may get better with age, or not. As long as she isn't seriously damaging the other birds (drawing blood) or preventing them from getting anything to eat or drink, it should be okay to leave her in with the others. It would help, though, to offer more than one feeding and watering station so that the other birds can eat/drink separately from her. Offering some type of hiding spot wouldn't be a bad idea, either.
What are their living quarters? How much space do they have? Sounds like boredom to me, and possibly overcrowding.
Right now I've put her in time out for increments of hours. At night she sleeps alone but they all easy together. I'll leave her in until she acts up again. It's not over crowding bc is a big box they are in. I'll take your advice bantam about leaving her out until she becomes the new girl again. There are 7 chickens including the bully and their box is like 4 5ft by 4......plenty of room. I'll look into adding another feeder & water. Thank you all so much!
