My bully is a bust

[Byrd gal]

My girl who used to rule the roost is now second to last in the order according to the roost. She now hangs back at feeding time and is missing feathers. She squeeks so timidly now and is being bullied i know karma and all but the whole flock is in on it at times and she is truly miserable and loosing weight although i feed her away from the rest. We have no roos .we have 11 girls. Ideas

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome!
If it's all about 'social issues', then having lots of space, areas to be out of sight, and at least two separate feeders and waterers may make things better.
If she's molting, she might be uncomfortable over that.
It's also possible that she's actually ill, and everyone in the flock knows it.
Are these all mature hens, raised together, or growing pullets, or have there been additions or subtractions in the flock fairly recently?
Mary

 

[Byrd gal]

Welcome!
If it's all about 'social issues', then having lots of space, areas to be out of sight, and at least two separate feeders and waterers may make things better.
If she's molting, she might be uncomfortable over that.
It's also possible that she's actually ill, and everyone in the flock knows it.
Are these all mature hens, raised together, or growing pullets, or have there been additions or subtractions in the flock fairly recently?
Mary

They have multiple feeders and waterers .they have 744sq ft run and covered run and free range as weather permits. They are four months apart she is the older group of five they are fairly young about 10 months and the babies are 7 months they are Plymouth rocks and rhode islands . Im not sure what she is but is about the middle size of the flock.We lost a girl about a month ago egg bound.i think she was running around two hours she was dead on the nest ! She has pin feathers around her neck like she met a roo.

 

[sourland]

Sounds as if the molting is stressing her, and flock mates are taking advantage of that fact. The pecking order is sort of like 'Mean girls in High School.'

 

[aart]

She has pin feathers around her neck like she met a roo.

Pin feathers are from molting not mating.

 

[Folly's place]

It might be about molting, and feeling 'poorly' over that. Also, at least hatchery type RIRs (the orange ones) tend to be more aggressive than some within their flocks. Maybe relevant, maybe not.
Is there one bird in particular who's picking on her? That bird could be isolated away from the flock for a time, and see if that helps.
Hope things settle down soon!
Mary

 

[Onyxflock]

It might be about molting, and feeling 'poorly' over that. Also, at least hatchery type RIRs (the orange ones) tend to be more aggressive than some within their flocks. Maybe relevant, maybe not.
Is there one bird in particular who's picking on her? That bird could be isolated away from the flock for a time, and see if that helps.
Hope things settle down soon!
Mary

If she's molting you'll see down feathers and you should see her pulling them out when preening.
My bully hen's attitude didn't change like that when she molted. Like yours shes the older 2, now 1 year old and just got feathers back in full from molting. I'm sure not all have the same symptons, yours might be different.
It might be worth it to watch them closely for a while to see if anyone's getting after her. And see if she has any other behaviour that would be a clue. If she free ranges, maybe ate something that didn't settle with her. Runny poop could be a sign of that.
If you don't give vinegar, you might go ahead and put it in her water, may not be the cure, but helps them either way.
Good luck -

 

[Ridgerunner]

missing feathers.

I agree, it sounds like a molt. I know, you read on here that the first adult molt is only going to happen at 18 months and other myths, but that is not correct. Molts can and regularly do happen at other ages.

loosing weight

Maybe not. Some hens are mostly feathers. When they molt they look like they have lost weight but all they have lost is a lot of feathers so they look smaller. When they are molting, and this sounds like it may be a heavy molt, sometimes they don't feel good. The pin feathers growing in may be prickly. They can be standoffish and just want to be alone.

the whole flock is in on it at times

Not sure how long this has been going on or what "the whole flock" looks like when this happens. To me it sounds like one or more of the seven month olds may have recently hit the maturity level to challenge for flock master. Hens can be brutal bullies when one gets knocked down or shows any weakness. Mob mentality can sometimes take over.

is about the middle size of the flock.

I personally don't think physical size really matters. Too many cases where a bantam dominates full sized chickens. It's more about the size of the fight in the chicken than the size of the chicken in the fight.

So what to do? If she is not being injured, one option is to keep doing what you are. Eventually they should grow out of it. She will probably never be the dominant hen again but one of them needs to be near the bottom in the pecking order. Once they get settled in it can be a good life. If this is a recent development they may have not sorted it out yet. So patience may be a good thing.

If you can identify one hen as the instigator you can isolate her for a while, see how the flock reacts with her gone. That is a common strategy and sometimes works. If this is recent it's possible the new dominant hen is still cementing her takeover so that adds some uncertainty to me.

You can house that hen remotely from the others, hopefully across a fence, until she finishes the molt. This may cause reintegration issues later so I don't like it but it might work. If she is actually being injured it is probably a good idea. Maybe stick a couple of her buddies in with her and see if they pick on her.

It is always possible there is something wrong with her. A flock will sometimes turn on a weak or sick member. They can attract predators and bring the entire flock to their attention so they sometimes instinctively try to remove what can be a danger to the flock. They can be brutal.

It's hard to know what is going on across the internet. It can be hard enough when you are there looking at it. My guess is that it is a rearrangement of the pecking order as your younger ones hit maturity, fairly common. But I don't know that.

Good luck!

 

[Onyxflock]

missing feathers.

I agree, it sounds like a molt. I know, you read on here that the first adult molt is only going to happen at 18 months and other myths, but that is not correct. Molts can and regularly do happen at other ages.

loosing weight

Maybe not. Some hens are mostly feathers. When they molt they look like they have lost weight but all they have lost is a lot of feathers so they look smaller. When they are molting, and this sounds like it may be a heavy molt, sometimes they don't feel good. The pin feathers growing in may be prickly. They can be standoffish and just want to be alone.

the whole flock is in on it at times

Not sure how long this has been going on or what "the whole flock" looks like when this happens. To me it sounds like one or more of the seven month olds may have recently hit the maturity level to challenge for flock master. Hens can be brutal bullies when one gets knocked down or shows any weakness. Mob mentality can sometimes take over.

is about the middle size of the flock.

I personally don't think physical size really matters. Too many cases where a bantam dominates full sized chickens. It's more about the size of the fight in the chicken than the size of the chicken in the fight.

So what to do? If she is not being injured, one option is to keep doing what you are. Eventually they should grow out of it. She will probably never be the dominant hen again but one of them needs to be near the bottom in the pecking order. Once they get settled in it can be a good life. If this is a recent development they may have not sorted it out yet. So patience may be a good thing.

If you can identify one hen as the instigator you can isolate her for a while, see how the flock reacts with her gone. That is a common strategy and sometimes works. If this is recent it's possible the new dominant hen is still cementing her takeover so that adds some uncertainty to me.

You can house that hen remotely from the others, hopefully across a fence, until she finishes the molt. This may cause reintegration issues later so I don't like it but it might work. If she is actually being injured it is probably a good idea. Maybe stick a couple of her buddies in with her and see if they pick on her.

It is always possible there is something wrong with her. A flock will sometimes turn on a weak or sick member. They can attract predators and bring the entire flock to their attention so they sometimes instinctively try to remove what can be a danger to the flock. They can be brutal.

It's hard to know what is going on across the internet. It can be hard enough when you are there looking at it. My guess is that it is a rearrangement of the pecking order as your younger ones hit maturity, fairly common. But I don't know that.

Good luck!

These are really good points. Bullies can act like a Roo, jumping on the other one and pecking her neck and heaf. That's what I saw them do. But this is behaviour you would see them doing. And the picked on hen would be shying away from them.

 

[Byrd gal]

Thank you all so much . I am going to bring her in today give her a bath and some tlc and barring any sickness or injury let her try to handle it .I got cameras for xmas (yay) if it ever stops raining i will know more for sure what they are up to in the coop its a 20x18 plus in the run they have a covered pop up 10x10 sides covered with straw down and a mini coop they can sit in or on i don't think its space. I have now regressed into a chicken spy. Heaven help me