I have a flock bully

[Texas Chicken Mom]

I have two hens that show signs of bullying. I noticed yesterday that they had dark spots on their combs. Their eyes are clear and no other signs of illness. As they were free ranging today, the two hens stayed close to me and that’s when I saw that one of my girls had feathers missing and had blood on her chest. I made a chicken hospital in my garage and went to the coop to get the injured chicken. I noticed both hens who had the dark spots were roosting outside. I closed the suspected bully in the coop and removed the two injured girls. How long do I keep them separated? All four of my birds were purchased together last March and they have always lived as one flock. This is my first flock so I’m not sure what else I can do. Can anyone advise me on what further steps need to be done to care for my injured ladies and also to reunite the flock harmoniously. Thank you in advance for your assistance to this newby chicken mom!

 

[DobieLover]

I have two hens that show signs of bullying. I noticed yesterday that they had dark spots on their combs. Their eyes are clear and no other signs of illness. As they were free ranging today, the two hens stayed close to me and that’s when I saw that one of my girls had feathers missing and had blood on her chest. I made a chicken hospital in my garage and went to the coop to get the injured chicken. I noticed both hens who had the dark spots were roosting outside. I closed the suspected bully in the coop and removed the two injured girls. How long do I keep them separated? All four of my birds were purchased together last March and they have always lived as one flock. This is my first flock so I’m not sure what else I can do. Can anyone advise me on what further steps need to be done to care for my injured ladies and also to reunite the flock harmoniously. Thank you in advance for your assistance to this newby chicken mom!

How large is your coop and run?
How old are your birds?
Have they started laying?
What are you feeding them?
What breed(s) are they?
Can you post pictures of their injuries?
If they are not seriously injured, it's usually sufficient to just clean them up, disinfect minor wounds and return them to the flock.

 

[Texas Chicken Mom]

How large is your coop and run?
How old are your birds?
Have they started laying?
What are you feeding them?
What breed(s) are they?
Can you post pictures of their injuries?
If they are not seriously injured, it's usually sufficient to just clean them up, disinfect minor wounds and return them to the flock.

My coop sits inside a 10x10 dog enclosure that serves as a run. The coop is approximately 6x6 with two internal nesting boxes and two parallel roosts. The birds are 11 months old and were purchased all st the same time from Tractor Supply. Their feed is Dumor layer crumble with grit and oyster shell added in. They also receive treats of mealworms, BOSS or whole corn several times a week. They are all Barred Rocks and have been laying consistently since September 2019. I didn’t take a picture of the injuries but will try to get one.

 

[dawg53]

Consider expanding your coop or remove the nest boxes to the outside of the coop somehow. Your BR's probably need a little more space than what you currently have set up, they can grow to large size and more space between them is required.
Keep in mind that there will always be a pecking order. So, one of your birds will always be at the bottom. It also comes into play when it comes to roosting, eating etc...
Also, cut back on the treats and stick with the layer feed.
Perhaps you can install a roost the opposite way to increase space.

 

[DobieLover]

My coop sits inside a 10x10 dog enclosure that serves as a run. The coop is approximately 6x6 with two internal nesting boxes and two parallel roosts. The birds are 11 months old and were purchased all st the same time from Tractor Supply. Their feed is Dumor layer crumble with grit and oyster shell added in. They also receive treats of mealworms, BOSS or whole corn several times a week. They are all Barred Rocks and have been laying consistently since September 2019. I didn’t take a picture of the injuries but will try to get one.

Can you also please post some pictures of your setup, inside the coop and out.
The oyster shell and grit should be fed in separate containers.
What do you have in the run? Do you have multiple feed options? What is the design of your current feeder? Like all things with chickens, the amount of space they have around the feeder matters too.

 

[Acre4Me]

Are they let out shortly after the sun is up? This way the have space to move around. You coop and run space are fine for the 4 birds, but maybe not if they are confined in the coop for long.

Are there any visual disruptions in the run? This would be anything that allows one to be out if the line of sight from another. Often can be accomplished with a board propped up against the fence or wall, for example. Make sure no dead ends where a chicken can be trapped then bullied the corner. Add an outside roost or two if possible, they don’t have to be very high.

feed and water stations: have at least 2 stations Of each.

Feed: increase the protein to see if that helps. Either supplement with something higher protein, or change feed to an all-flock.

good luck.

 

[Dville Chix]

I had a similar story with my small flock. All the chickens were about the same age and there had been no trouble at all until the dominant hen (our only barred rock) turned nasty one day. She relentlessly pecked at our olive egger (the lowest rank hen). At one point she tore a 1" hole in the OE's neck. (Minor surgery and a long separation followed) We tried everything. Separated the bully for several weeks from the others--which was SUPPOSED to make it such that she would re-enter the flock at a lower rank--didn't work. We ended up having to set up a second run. Every time we tried to reintegrate the flock as one, the bully BR would strip every feather off the olive egger's head and neck within 2 days. We also tried "pinless peepers", which are plastic blinder that don't completely blind the dominant hen, but block enough of her vision to make her aim bad when she tries to peck. That worked pretty well for a few weeks, but the pinless peepers seemed to be causing beak damage to the bully, so we took them off--which put us right back at square one. OE pecked clean within 2 days. HOWEVER we do now have a solution. We got a new rooster. More accurately, one of our hatchlings grew up. Before him, we had an a**hole rooster who got aggressive with humans, so he is in the freezer now. Our new rooster, who is now about 18 months old, is a sweetheart with humans and is lees rough on the hens than his predecessor. He also seems to be mediating the relationship between the bully and the low rank OE. He doesn't really interfere with the dominant hen, but what he seems to do is keep the OE out of her way. I watched one night as the birds were entering the coop to roost for the night. The dominant BR was inside already and making quite a production of getting herself settled. The OE wanted to go in too, but the rooster placed himself in her way and would not let her enter the coop. I watched for almost half an hour as her stood over the OE. Every time the OE tried to squirm past him, he blocked her. Once the BR was fully settled, he finally let the OE into the coop. I also have seen that whenever I give them some corn or some other treat the OE will keep the rooster between her and the BR when she tries to eat. Often the BR will still chase the OE off the treat, but she is more prone to ignore the OE if the rooster is between them. The OE is still missing a few feathers on her head, but it is a FEW, not completely naked down to her shoulders and no blood. We do have a solution now, but we seriously considered just culling the dominant bird, or possibly the OE, since the BR seems to leave all the others alone. However, the two of them are currently our only layers, so it is tough to part with either one. If I had to choose, I would cull the bully.

 

[Dville Chix]

Also--forgot to mention--To treat the injuries I recommend blu-kote. You can get it at tractor supply or any other farm supply. It is an antiseptic that will help prevent infection AND it stains the injury blue. The other hens will peck at a visible (red) injury, so the blue conceals the injury and stops the other hens pecking at it. If the wound is large, you may want to close it using superglue, but be careful to not seal in an infection. When we had the 1" gaping hole in the OE's neck we cleaned it out with saline, applied antiseptic and then closed the wound using superglue. We monitored for infection and luckily there was none. A few weeks later you couldn't even tell there had been a wound. Chickens have an AMAZING capacity for healing wounds. We also apply neosporin to minor wounds.

 

[Texas Chicken Mom]

Also--forgot to mention--To treat the injuries I recommend blu-kote. You can get it at tractor supply or any other farm supply. It is an antiseptic that will help prevent infection AND it stains the injury blue. The other hens will peck at a visible (red) injury, so the blue conceals the injury and stops the other hens pecking at it. If the wound is large, you may want to close it using superglue, but be careful to not seal in an infection. When we had the 1" gaping hole in the OE's neck we cleaned it out with saline, applied antiseptic and then closed the wound using superglue. We monitored for infection and luckily there was none. A few weeks later you couldn't even tell there had been a wound. Chickens have an AMAZING capacity for healing wounds. We also apply neosporin to minor wounds.

I have heard of Blu-Kote and plan on purchasing some at Tractor Supply this afternoon.

 

[Texas Chicken Mom]

Several questions asked so I will try to answer them as time allowed. I have two roosts inside the coop that are in an L configuration. Plenty of room for all four birds as usually two roosts as a pair on each side. I have a hanging feeder and waterer both purchased from Tractor Supply. There is also an outside roost suspending from the roof large enough for all four to sit on at one time. That is where I found the two bullied hens last night when I went to transfer them as the bully hen would not allow them inside the coop. I typically don’t close the coop door at night and have never had any predator issues. Started doing that when this past summer when it was still 80 degrees after sundown.