Light brahma bullying easter egger

Soph70119 · Jan 23, 2018

First time poster, long time reader. About a year ago, I got a 1 year old light brahma to keep my easter egger (EE) company as my other EE was killed by a racoon. Since the beginning, the brahma has picked on my EE, not drawing blood, but picking feathers and bullying over roost position. No matter what EE does, brahma picks on her. In the last year, the brahma has gotten even bigger making the issues worse. I intentionally got a brahma bc they are supposed to be docile, but maybe the size difference is too much (brahma is 2x the size of EE)? I’m debating adding either one or two more hens to the flock. I was thinking one large hen to distract the brahma and a medium hen to keep EE company. I know there’s no predicting personality dynamics, but I’d rather not rehome the brahma. Also, I don’t think it’s a space/environment issue because they have a huge walk in coop (16 feet long/3feet wide) and large yard to graze. Large feeders and lots of roost space. Even feeding them meal worms and oyster shells on top of layer feed. I’m out of ideas on how to keep the peace. Are more hens the answer?

Teila · Jan 23, 2018

G’Day from down under Soph :frow

Welcome!

I do not have a lot of experience with bullying in my flock or size difference etc; having 5 x bantams only. However, BYC has Topic of the Week articles which I have found to be a great resource and a one stop shop for questions which may have already been discussed within the BYC membership group. These two might be helpful to you:
Topic of the Week - Chicken behaviour and flock dynamics - Part 1 - The pecking order
Topic of the Week - Chicken Behaviour and Flock Dynamics Part 2 - Bullying Behaviour

I do hope you enjoy being a BYC member. There are lots of friendly and very helpful folks here so not only is it overflowing with useful information it is also a great place to make friends and have some fun.

You might want to also Find Your State Thread and pop in and say hello.

If you would like to share Pictures and Stories of your girls, you have come to the right place. BYC’ers never tire of these and do not back away slowly or commence eye rolling when the photo album or home videos come out

ronott1 · Jan 23, 2018

Welcome to Backyard Chickens!

More flock members will help with flock dynamics.

Read up on integrating new flock members in the forums

007Sean · Jan 24, 2018

Howdy

Happy

to have you join the family. Enjoy your time here at BYC!

Pork Pie · Jan 24, 2018

Hello and welcome to BYC.

You have some great links from Teila, which I am sure will be very helpful. These links on integration may also be interesting:
http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/adding-to-your-flock

http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/introducing-new-chickens-using-the-see-but-don-t-touch-method

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1098683/introducing-new-chickens-to-old-flock#post_16895615

Wickedchicken6 · Jan 24, 2018

Hello and welcome to BYC!! It’s so nice to have you join us!

Good information has been posted by others above. Adding more hens should change the dynamics.

When adding birds to an established community, I do it when I can move the entire group...but I move the underdogs/new birds in first for 1-2 days to give them an advantage. (But not everyone has room to do this)

Kenneling the head bird for a few days, in this case your Brahma, and giving the picked on bird the whole area for a couple of days can make a difference as well.

This video may help with learning how to navigate the new site.