Mean chicken!?!

[angc11]

It looks like your Salmon Faverolles doesn't have a beard/muffs. Did she always not have a beard or could someone be plucking her beard out? Mainly I am wondering if your other chickens are also feather plucking and you just haven't seen it yet. If she used to have a beard, that might mean multiple chickens are feather pluckers which could mean there's a lack of protein/boredom/lack of space for your whole flock. In that case I would follow all the advice above, especially using 20% protein feed and upping the clutter.

If you do all those things and she's still doing it and you're certain she's the only one doing it and she does it regularly to the detriment of your other hens, it might make sense for you to consider re-homing her. I had a feather plucking hen in my fully free ranging flock that I am certain have enough protein/space/mental stimulation. I ended up culling her (she was an extreme case that got worse and worse) and never had another problem with it.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

ended up culling her

Culling her by rehoming, or by actually dispatching (killing) her? Culling actually means removing from the flock by various means.

 

[angc11]

Culling her by rehoming, or by actually dispatching (killing) her? Culling actually means removing from the flock by various means.

Yeah we dispatched her. I just didn't want to specifically mention that since that doesn't seem to be a viable option for this case. Culling always sounds nicer since it remains vague lol

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Thanks. Just wanted clarity.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I chose the breeds I did because they are supposed to be docile and sweet.

You did the best you could but that is on average. There are always going to be outliers. It's like you can come up with an average height for 5th grade girls, but some are going to be shorter or higher than the average. The average Favorelles may be docile but you can always get an exception.

When she got big enough she would freak out if I tried to pick her up, but no biggie, the others are friendly and cuddly. Then she started biting me when I tried to interact with other chickens.

This just started in the last 2 days. I saw her doing it- she is just walking up to any other chicken and pecking it's back. She was just bopping around like a pinball pecking away!

For the feather picking you can try to alter her behavior. You can certainly try any of the things mentioned by others, something might work. I'd try isolating her from the flock for a week or so to see if that feather picking behavior changes when you let her back with the flock. I've had some success altering behaviors by using isolation but it does not always work.

There is nothing wrong with trying to alter behaviors, sometimes it works. But ultimately when it doesn't I want to solve for the peace of the flock. You have to be careful when around her, does that reduce your enjoyment of your flock? Other than feather picking I don't see where she is harassing or bullying your other pullets. But feather picking can sometimes escalate to other behavior. I'd want to stop it.

Good luck however you decide.