Is this normal?

[Papa John59]

We have had our 3 girls (pullets 16 weeks) for three weeks now, an Amrock, a Leghorn and a Sussex. They all came from the same flock. Initially the Leghorn took the role at the top of the pecking order, then the Sussex leaving the poor Amrock at the bottom of the order. No aggressive actions was ever seen. Now for the past 4 days, the Amrock has become a little terror! She HAS to eat and drink first, if not then she pecks the offender. In "her" sand bath, beware of an attack! And I noticed this morning, she pulls the tail feathers (and those under the tail) of the Sussex and eats them!
So my questions are....

Is it normal for the pecking order to change to quickly?

Is it normal for a pullet to eat feathers or the fluffy ones she pulls?
What is she missing in her diet. They are getting pullet feed mix with a little laying feed (4:1) plus we give them hanging fruits. At the recommendation of the breeder, we have added tuna to their diet once a week.

How do we break this aggression that the Amrock is displaying?

Thanks

 

[DobieLover]

We have had our 3 girls (pullets 16 weeks) for three weeks now, an Amrock, a Leghorn and a Sussex. They all came from the same flock. Initially the Leghorn took the role at the top of the pecking order, then the Sussex leaving the poor Amrock at the bottom of the order. No aggressive actions was ever seen. Now for the past 4 days, the Amrock has become a little terror! She HAS to eat and drink first, if not then she pecks the offender. In "her" sand bath, beware of an attack! And I noticed this morning, she pulls the tail feathers (and those under the tail) of the Sussex and eats them!
So my questions are....

Is it normal for the pecking order to change to quickly?

Is it normal for a pullet to eat feathers or the fluffy ones she pulls?
What is she missing in her diet. They are getting pullet feed mix with a little laying feed (4:1) plus we give them hanging fruits. At the recommendation of the breeder, we have added tuna to their diet once a week.

How do we break this aggression that the Amrock is displaying?

Thanks

Can you please post pictures of your setup?
How much protein is in their feed? By pullet feed, do you mean grower?
Feather plucking can be due to bullying or a protein deficiency.

 

[aart]

Good questions by @DobieLover .
My bet is that the amrock is near to laying, hormones a flowin'!

 

[Papa John59]

Can you please post pictures of your setup?
How much protein is in their feed? By pullet feed, do you mean grower?
Feather plucking can be due to bullying or a protein deficiency.

@DobieLover, thanks for your reply. Setup pics will have to be tomorrow (it late evening here and the set is behind the mountain) but I do have pics of my two girls. As for their feed, it is for weeks 14-20 or until they start laying and contains 17% protein and 3.6% calcium. I forgot to mention that they are also free ranged during the day for about 8 hours (about 170 square meters) . I love how they return to the run once the sun starts sitting behind the mountain and remain in the run until dark.
Today, I put her in time out by keeping her in the run for half the day. The moment I let her out, she went straight to where the Sussex was and started plucking. Back into the run she went. Since they have gone into the coop, its quite.
Looking at the crop, the Amrock is not ready to lay.