mean hen

[ewaugaman]

Hello out there again. I have a question I have a little hen she is smaller than the other chickens, but I hear some of the bigger hens picking on her, I went in to gather eggs the other day and one hen was riding her, what can I do about this. She has lots of room to get away from the chicken that is bullying her, but I just don't like it. I feel sorry for her, is there something special I can do to stop her from bullying that little hen???

Thank you .
Ewaugaman

 

[azygous]

If this has been going on for a while, rather than a temporary social order shakeup, constant bullying can sometimes result in the erosion of the victim's self confidence. This converts the individual into a perpetual victim, in turn causing her to behave like a victim which encourages more bullying.

If this has only been happening for a few days, I wouldn't advise intervention. Give your chickens a chance to work it out.

If you've noticed this bullying going on for a few weeks, though, intervention could restore the little hen's self confidence and that would cause her to stand up to the bullies instead of backing down as she does now.

Having a run large enough to partition a section will help. I had a hen such as this who spent her days relaxing away from the torment she had been enduring, and three weeks later, she emerged transformed.

The secret is to have the safe pen in full view of the flock, place the hen in it each morning, allowing her to see the others and be seen by the flock, but not have to put up with their bullying. Then at night, let her go in and roost with the others. This preserves her membership in the flock while giving her a vacation to recover her self confidence.

 

[tuesdaze]

I was told to remove the bully and not the victim. They said the bully then loses their rank in the pecking order and has to start at the bottom. I don't know if this is an effective method, because I didn't get to try it. Upon closer observation of my flock, I discovered it was not just one bully picking on the victim, there were several who kind of ganged up on him. I did remove the victim, because I didn't have room to remove more than one bully. The rest of the flock could see the victim, but they could not touch him. The first couple nights they roosted separately, but after that they roosted together at night and were separated during the day. He is back with the flock now and no one really bothers him aside from the occasional minor squabble. Now if I could just figure out how to stop the roosters fighting, especially when I am not around to break it up.

I even have one rooster and hen that are repeatedly fighting with one another. And they are not even married!

 

[ewaugaman]

If this has been going on for a while, rather than a temporary social order shakeup, constant bullying can sometimes result in the erosion of the victim's self confidence. This converts the individual into a perpetual victim, in turn causing her to behave like a victim which encourages more bullying.

If this has only been happening for a few days, I wouldn't advise intervention. Give your chickens a chance to work it out.

If you've noticed this bullying going on for a few weeks, though, intervention could restore the little hen's self confidence and that would cause her to stand up to the bullies instead of backing down as she does now.

Having a run large enough to partition a section will help. I had a hen such as this who spent her days relaxing away from the torment she had been enduring, and three weeks later, she emerged transformed.

The secret is to have the safe pen in full view of the flock, place the hen in it each morning, allowing her to see the others and be seen by the flock, but not have to put up with their bullying. Then at night, let her go in and roost with the others. This preserves her membership in the flock while giving her a vacation to recover her self confidence.

 

[ewaugaman]

thank you so much, this makes sense and I will give it a very good try that is for sure. Thank you again.
Ewaugaman