How do I "toughen up" my severely bullied favorelle?

[jeffi]

Louis the Plymouth Rock is severely bullying my little favorelle whom is being pecked severely on the comb and wattles mainly by the BPR and also a little by the other blue leghorn. Alltogether, there are only 3 chooks, each about 6-7 months old, which I bought as chicks all together from the same breeder. They're living in a predominantly open grass and shrubbed space of about 30 m2...there are two separate nesting coops which fit comfortably 2-3 chooks when roosting (hence having two).

The BPR is the main antagoniser and is extremely aggressive whereas the poor favorelle, which has always had a highly timid and soft nature, has relegated herself to one of the nesting boxes in the coop where she essentially sits all day coming out only once or twice to eat and drink. I've isolated her into this coop which has a small extension run coming off the front where she's free to move around and scratch a bit...not that she does often, seeing as the other two birds run to taunt her whenever they spot her out of her nest box.

Its been several days of isolation for Camembert the Favorelle, and nothing seems to have changed...I'm really not sure what's causing this extreme agression...are these breeds incompatible?

 

[TheTwoRoos]

She sounds like the lower girl on the order,so she won't fight back because of that.

Separate the other hen,the bully,then reintroduce her after about 2 weeks,and be sure they cannot see each other while the bully is in isolation.

Reintroduce her and they should fight and hopefully the bully is put lower on the order.

There is no way to"Toughen"her up,she isn't a dog.

 

[jeffi]

oh haha..i wasn't serious about toughening up my bird. just want to help her feel safe and comfortable and confident again.

anyway thanks for the quick response, and yep she definitely is the lowest in the order...but if both birds are bullying her, shall i isolate them both, and from each other? or just have the two in one space and the favorelle in another...that's what i have going at the moment at least.

the favorelle's only separated as she pretty much separated herself...

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome! x2 the above advise! Favorelles are wonderful, but they tend to be very mild mannered, and this can be a problem for them in a mixed flock. Your aggressive girl may be too much for your Favorelle, and everyone need friends. How about a larger group? Can you send the PR back, and get more Favorelles? Or something to improve the situation? Mary

 

[drumstick diva]

You could try "pinless peepers," on the bullies. It prevents chickens from seeing straight ahead so throws off their aim. I am sure the meanies would be aggravated enough to forget to bully for awhile. Put pinless peepers in the search box to check them out.

Or options are - rehome the Faverolles, or rehome the meanies, or make the Faverolles a house pet chicken. She would probably bloom because humans wouldn't be picking on her. Check out "people with house chickens," thread

 

[azygous]

Natural temperament as well as self confidence determine behavior. Not much can be done about temperament, but you can help your timid one to build self confidence by giving her time away from constant bullying.

I had a Buff Brahma hen, and Brahmas tend toward being mildly on the timid side, who was constantly bullied. I gave her a couple weeks "vacation" in an adjoining "jail" pen where she could still see and interact with the flock, and after that period she had gone through a personality change. She was more confident and even pecked back when cornered by her former bullies.

Also, you might take a good look at your run. Is it simply a rectangular enclosure with no perches or other items such as stumps or old chairs on which to perch? Partitions also help to break up space and give more timid birds an "out", places to run behind and hide.

Chickens enjoy "furniture" in their run. Besides tree stumps and perches, I made lounging pads out of empty feed sacks stuffed with straw. They are one of the most used features in my run. By creating a more interesting run, you will be giving your more aggressive chickens something other than the timid one on which to focus.

 

[chickengr]

Natural temperament as well as self confidence determine behavior. Not much can be done about temperament, but you can help your timid one to build self confidence by giving her time away from constant bullying.

I had a Buff Brahma hen, and Brahmas tend toward being mildly on the timid side, who was constantly bullied. I gave her a couple weeks "vacation" in an adjoining "jail" pen where she could still see and interact with the flock, and after that period she had gone through a personality change. She was more confident and even pecked back when cornered by her former bullies.

Also, you might take a good look at your run. Is it simply a rectangular enclosure with no perches or other items such as stumps or old chairs on which to perch? Partitions also help to break up space and give more timid birds an "out", places to run behind and hide.

Chickens enjoy "furniture" in their run. Besides tree stumps and perches, I made lounging pads out of empty feed sacks stuffed with straw. They are one of the most used features in my run. By creating a more interesting run, you will be giving your more aggressive chickens something other than the timid one on which to focus.

I agree. I have some old tyres as well as a few shades so my new tiny hen needed about 1 week only to integrate to the new flock.

 

[jeffi]

thanks, I've never heard of that, will give it a go!

 

[jeffi]

thanks for the suggestions everyone - sorry i'm still working out how to reply properly on these forums