Low girl on the totem pole...

[blueberrychickens]

So every day I give the girls a plate of treats, usually left overs from the day before, sometimes I just give them some moistened pellets w/ boss & scratch mixed in. So my question is how do you make sure the lowest in the pecking order gets a chance to have a snack? I've tried to put out 2 plates but the highest ranked girls just run btwn the plates chasing away the lowest girl. The lowest girl makes the saddest sounds & you can tell she wants to get in there & have a bit of something yummy. She isn't low in weight so I know she is at least getting her share of regular pellets.
Any suggestions???

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

You can try to hand feed her some treats or isolate her. My BO was at the bottom of the pecking order. Still is but now that I'm down to two, it's not that big of a deal. But I still distract her sister and hand feed the BO treats. She'll learn quickly to stay at your side when you come to visit to get treats.

You can also try putting the two treat bowls further apart. Makes it harder for the bossy ones to run back and forth.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

What my kids have done is grab some dried mealworms in hand, grab their favorite chicken in hand, and go to a corner of the yard. Then they put the treat down and the chicken down. By the time the other chickens figure out what is happening, most of the mealworms have been eaten by their favorite hen.

This only works for awhile, and then they have a chicken flood behind them wherever they venture in the yard. So it is a temporary solution, at best.

 

[PTFowl]

I don't have a solution but I too feel badly for my low girl on the totem poll. I've tried some different ways to get her some of the treats but haven't found anything that reliably works yet.

 

[sourland]

Scatter treats throughout the yard/pen. You can't 'beat' the pecking order. It's an integral part of chicken society. Just chickens being chickens.

 

[chezpoulet]

I put all the other girls in the portable tractor, and our low girl gets to hang out free for a while, with the treats in front of her. I wait till she eats her fill before letting the rest of the flock out .

 

[KDK1]

Quote:
Easily solved... at least for me it was. Mine did the same thing when I would bring them their daily salad in a serilite container. Then I started scattering around on the ground and it was better but the little ones still got ran off a bit. Then I built them a trough. There is literally about two seconds of scurrying around till they settle down in line and all can enjoy in peace. Worked for mine, hope this helps.

 

[bustermommy]

What cute little fuzzy butts.

I scatter widely and wait till most are distracted, then quietly put some right in front of the picked on chicken. In my case, it's my cockerel. Poor guy.

 

[geepy]

Quote:
Is he hen pecked?

 

[bustermommy]

How'd you guess?