Mean chicken

[Newchicken mama]

Ok so how do you get your girls to get along when they go to roost. I have a few that are super mean and peck the crap out of others when the try to get on roost bars. I have had to add extras places around coop so everyone can roost. Any suggestions??? Or is it just me and I’m the one with the problem and they are being normal chickens. Lol. This new chicken thing is stressful lol!!

 

[Rocky Rhodes]

This is totally normal chicken behavior. This is where the term "pecking order" comes from. It was very smart to provide multiple roosting locations. Oh! By the way, Welcome to BYC.

 

[Newchicken mama]

Well I have a small splash isbar I added and she is my youngest so I made her a special perch which was taken over the the 2 other younger marans I have. They like to steal spots. One of mine has a whole 6 ft perch that she won’t allow anyone on sure takes a lot of my space up in there!!

 

[aart]

I have a small splash isbar I added

Adding birds make the 'RoostTimeRumble' worse, especially for the new bird.

 

[EggMan207]

It just takes time... once the pecking order is firmly established it will settle down. When I integrated my last set of chicks it got pretty brutal for one of them (because we tried it when the were too young). When we tried again it went much, much smoother, but it still took a month or two before everyone was able to roost together without any arguing.

 

[Newchicken mama]

What is so funny is the little one refuses to stay on the one I put her on she flies up to the very top with the head honchos and stands her ground and that’s where she roosts every night lol!!

 

[Milly342]

From chick to hen keep em in a separate pen! About 3-4 months or until they start roosting! I have a 3 week -3 ...4 month chicken pen until they are big enough to take the pecking! Pecking order is normal! I concur!!

 

[SandyRiverChick]

My opinion is just monitor it closely. If the little one is pecking back and it's a fair fight then good... Not to scare you but after I lost 2 of my older ones and the other 4 had to establish a new order, 2 of them ganged up on a slightly smaller one. They were both pecking her head, one on each side of her on the roost when I closed up the coop for the night. I worried about it all night but kept telling myself this is nature, they have to get the new order set up. She was dead in the morning. :-( Nature can be cruel and I tell myself that it wasn't my fault. Yet, clearly if I'd taken her out of there for a bit she might still be alive.... Just wanted you to have enough feedback and stories to use your own judgement.

 

[Chickassan]

It happens, one chicken always gets the short straw here its the ameracuna .They've bullied her at roost time for well over a year but she still roosts with the meanies and in turn is horrible to the youngest hens. It is really like a 3 stooges show, Bea pecks Marlene, Marlene pecks Susan its an endless cycle.