One chicken being bullied.

[LaFleche]

ALL but my barred rock have missing neck feathers to varying degrees.

Which makes me suspect that the BR is the one that does the plucking.

Or is she the head of your flock?

 

[HenSolo84]

Which makes me suspect that the BR is the one that does the plucking.

Or is she the head of your flock?

She is the head of the flock I believe. She was the first to lay, the first to establish dominance, she doesn't let others eat if she's eating. But she's not aggressive. She hasn't bothered Frost at all like the other 3.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Wow the new set up is so much nicer!

Only thing I can see right off the bat is the run could use some more clutter. All the natural greenery kind of helps but there's no hard barriers to break up the space and to provide hiding spaces. Good thread on clutter: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/

Other thing to possibly try would be pinless peepers on the most aggressive bullies, maybe using those in conjunction with more clutter as a 1-2 punch.

 

[HenSolo84]

Wow the new set up is so much nicer!

Only thing I can see right off the bat is the run could use some more clutter. All the natural greenery kind of helps but there's no hard barriers to break up the space and to provide hiding spaces. Good thread on clutter: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/

Other thing to possibly try would be pinless peepers on the most aggressive bullies, maybe using those in conjunction with more clutter as a 1-2 punch.

Isn't it? We learned so much this first year! Thanks so much for your advice! I'll read up on clutter and I have pinless peepers in my amazon cart right now.

Would you keep the others in jail for a week still?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Isn't it? We learned so much this first year! Thanks so much for your advice! I'll read up on clutter and I have pinless peepers in my amazon cart right now.

Would you keep the others in jail for a week still?

I'm a little iffy on if "jail" is actually doing anything at this point, other than being a hassle for you. Work on getting in some clutter, maybe see about adding a bale of straw to give them something to interact with, maybe try adding the peepers, and hopefully some combo of all that will keep them busy and distracted enough to at least lessen the issues to the point that they can all coexist in the space.

 

[HenSolo84]

I've got the peepers on the way. Frost hides in the coop all day and hates to come out. We go in with her and hang out in the run. Yesterday we had her all by herself and when the others come over, you could almost see her reach up and ask for help like a toddler asking for mommy to pick them up! We've added a pallet to hide under, propped up with stones on one end, but we can't get anything too high or they will hop the fence. I'm hoping the peepers are the magic we are hoping for. All chickens have been reintroduced.