Little Bullies. Help!

[JonnyRobertz]

I posted on here a couple weeks ago about an eye problem with my little road island red. We thought she had an eye infection but then we were told it might be bullying. We got her out of the coop for about a week while we nursed her back to health. She made a full recovery and we reintroduced her to the coop last night. We monitored the little girls hourly all day and at about 7:30pm there was a problem. She was brutally attacked. Her eye was re-injured worse than before and her head was a bald bloody mess. Does anyone know why they are rejecting her? Thoughts? Please help! I can provide pix but they are pretty graphic. Also, if it matters, she is one of four little girls and one of the largest in the group. Also, we are pretty sure we know who is doing the bullying but they all seem to shun her.

 

[Kiki]

Poor girl.
Chickens can be like mean high school girl clicks.
Sometimes they will never accept the new girl.
You may want to remove/ground the meanie for a few days, Instead.
Pics are always welcome.

 

[Saint_ Marwenne_Chickens]

We left one of our young cockerels out from the coop for a while to scratch up our garden bed and when we put him back they immediately started attacking him. I can deal with pics. You'll probably have to separate her permanently or the offenders for a while. I hate it when my hens get bullied

 

[JonnyRobertz]

We did remove her because we honestly felt so bad for her and were scared that they would injure her further or even worse.

 

[JonnyRobertz]

This happened in less than an hour... poor thing...

 

[junebuggena]

How big is your coop and run? Did this happen at roosting time? Are there multiple roosts in the coop?

 

[Saint_ Marwenne_Chickens]

That's worse than I thought. I would suggest building a small area for her somewhere (maybe inside? garage, shed) in a secure place, give her luxury treatment. I don't know much about chicken medicines. Make sure she has everything she would normally get (DE, shell grit, layer mash). Seek advice from someone more knowledgable than I . If she doesn't improve within a couple of months, or if the wounds get infected, it might be kinder to end her misery. It's one chicken, don't waste heaps on trying to save it. Do what you like on the topic of life/death though. Hope she gets better.

 

[junebuggena]

We did remove her because we honestly felt so bad for her and were scared that they would injure her further or even worse.

Looks terrible, but not life threatening. Chickens heal very quickly, and yours will likely be healed and back with the flock in 5 to 10 days. Reintroductions need to be done slowly, and with ample space. The most common cause for these sorts of problems is keeping too many chickens in too small a space. Chickens are very territorial by nature. They need a certain amount of personal space, and there is a strict social order when it comes to eating, laying, and roosting. No matter how big or small a flock is, there is always a top hen and one at the bottom of the pecking order. And there is a very good reason it's called the 'pecking order.'
The first step towards easing flock tensions is ensuring ample space for all. A general guideline is 4 sq ft of coop space and 10 sq ft of run space per bird. Some breeds and individuals will need more or less. The second step is ensuring that you have multiple food and water stations, positioned as far apart as possible, to prevent resource guarding. The third step is having multiple roosts. The last thing is distractions. Breaking up sightlines and providing outlets so that they can satisfy their natural foraging instincts can go a long way to having a harmonious flock. Stumps, large rocks, or logs in the run help lower ranking birds get out of sight of the boss hen, and can be flipped over periodically to give your flock a buggy treat. A pile of grass clippings, hay, or leaf litter can keep a flock occupied for weeks.

 

[Wickedchicken6]

There are many good points above.

Re-introducing many species animal/bird can be difficult with the pecking order that occurs. Any time a bird/animal is taken from the herd/flock...they are a bottom rung individual whenthey're returned and since they're strange...every body notices them immediately. When taking out an animal/bird...although it's not always possible, I try to take more than one out so when I reintroduce the animal...the interest from the main flock is spread over 2-3 animals. I have sheep and even they will bully a new comer. I always moved the original flock into the pen of new lambs or sheep. It's strange to the originals and they aren't as aggressive.

Is four birds the number of birds you have in total? If so...once your girl is healed, I'd kennel the 3 birds in the run and release the healed bird so she has the entire run to herself for a day or so. Then let the least aggressive bird out of the kennel. Let them spend time together. It's at least one on one and a fair fight. When the two are ok with each other let the second bird out of the cage and so forth. The original bird has the power play right from the beginning and the rest can't beat her up because of the way you release them.

Always let the most timid birds out first so they can get used to the new environment/surroundings. They learn where everything is and they have more confidence. It gives the timid/hurt animals a much better chance.

 

[JonnyRobertz]

Okay I'm going to try to answer questions. The coop is 4ft x 4ft and 3ft tall with a run that is 4ft x 8ft and 4ft tall. There are 3 separate roosting perches totaling about 10 ft in length. There is however only 1 feeder and 1 watering can. The incident took place in the run though, which is nowhere near the food source. We did separate her to recover. Also, we have 4 grown birds that are in a separate coop.