I have 5 hens together. There is one hen that has a bare patch on her back because one hen keeps on riding her at times. At other time, the hens will peck at her back. Why are they doing this and what should I do? Her back is bare.
I would either rehome this chicken, as these hens will not quit this behaviour, or rehome the hen that keeps riding her. You could spray her back with Blu-Kote and it may help or even cover it with a little saddle like some folks do on here but I doubt this behaviour will stop. You could also isolate the dominant hen for a few days where she can see the flock but cannot participate then re-introduce her. Sometimes this will throw off the pecking order and change things a little for the submissive one. Are they confined to a small space/run? They may just be bored chickens and have taken the pecking order to the next step for lack of anything better to do. I've never had hens pick on another to this degree and I can't imagine why they have picked all her feathers off her back...doesn't seem like a simple feather picking thing. She is either too docile and cannot defend herself or you have some very bored and irritated hens with nothing better to do than bully the weakest flock member. Mine free range, so I've never seen this type of behaviour in my flocks. I've seen a few loner hens who were the lowest on the pecking order but they still did not get bullied to this extent...no feather picking at all. Maybe someone else has had a similar problem and can offer a better solution?
