One chicken in the flock is a target......

[DeniseRooke]

We have one chicken who seems to be targeted by the others. We have a flock of 29 and no matter what we've tried, the others beat up on her. We have placed her in a cage within the coop so that she remains part flock for the last few weeks, but today, my son took her out and set her down to feed everyone and immediately one jumped on her and then she tried to go after another chicken. The rest of the flock, other than minor, normal squabbles, is peaceful. Many of her feathers have been lost. We've put anti-peck gel on her. We're out of ideas on how to integrate her. This has been going on for months. Is it time to see if we can re-home her? She's a sweet bird with humans, but she doesn't not get along with the rest of the flock!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

These were from October after she'd been beaten up. The blue is where she'd been bloodied and we applied ointment.

Variety of breeds - We have 2 Rhode Islands, 2 Plymouth Barred Rock, 4 Ameracaunas, 3 Brahmas, 2 Buff Orpington, 2 Olive Eggers, 2 Sex Links, 2 Wyandottes, 2 Sussex, 1 Polish, 3 Pearl star Leghorns, 2 Australorps and 2 I'm going blank on at the moment. They have a 16 x 7 foot coop and the entire yard to roam (we live on almost 4 acres), though we will be changing their ranging space over the winter. She's actually been part of the flock for over a year. The bullying has happened over the last 6 months or so.

Looks like she's being mounted. Even if you don't have males, females can mount for dominance.
Breast/crop area, either someone if plucking her or she's plucking out her own feathers.
I would check her crop to make sure it's emptying overnight.
Does she lay eggs at all?

I would assume she's likely at the bottom of the pecking order. A saddle may protect her skin a bit more. Even if you removed the top offenders, whoever is next in line will likely take up where they left off.

I know some would suggest re-homing, but a single bird would probably be hard to re-home and to me, once low in pecking order, always low so wherever she landed, she's going to get picked on there too.

Very likely a rooster is not going to help with this situation. He might, but that's a gamble. Doesn't sound like you want a rooster and if you don't, then you shouldn't have one, they come with their own set of issues sometimes.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

We have one chicken who seems to be targeted by the others. We have a flock of 29 and no matter what we've tried, the others beat up on her. We have placed her in a cage within the coop so that she remains part flock for the last few weeks, but today, my son took her out and set her down to feed everyone and immediately one jumped on her and then she tried to go after another chicken. The rest of the flock, other than minor, normal squabbles, is peaceful. Many of her feathers have been lost. We've put anti-peck gel on her. We're out of ideas on how to integrate her. This has been going on for months. Is it time to see if we can re-home her? She's a sweet bird with humans, but she doesn't not get along with the rest of the flock!

Photos of her please.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Rooster will break up fights that is why I suggested it.

I think it depends on the rooster.
I had a great rooster....
Great at alerting to danger, great at finding and sharing treats, an awesome dancer and gentle with the gals.
However he would never ever interfere with a hen battle. Those were rare but not once did he step in.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Age of all birds in the flock?
Breeds of birds?
Size of coop?
Size of run?
Is this the only one you are integrating?

Single bird integration is extremely difficult at best. At worst it just doesn't work at all.

 

[elphabafalls]

This is astounding for me ALL my rooster would, at even a hint of battle, step in and assert dominance!

I've only had one rooster, but he intervened in disagreements pretty much from birth. He was incredibly protective, very dominant, and concerned himself with every facet of the flock. He was also a person chicken. He was my baby. I guess I got lucky.

 

[Sally PB]

Is it time to see if we can re-home her? She's a sweet bird with humans,

Sad to say, for the good of the flock and for her too, this may be the best option. Is she in good health? Chickens know when one of the flock is sick, even if we don't, right away. They will try to rid the flock of that bird, as a natural self preservation instinct.

Maybe someone else has another idea?

 

[MissMonty]

Often animals will know when something is wrong long before we do. In my experience when animals start doing this likely something is already wrong with the chicken.

As long as nothing is wrong with her that you know of, I would look into rehoming her it'll probably be easier on her in the long run. Sometimes chickens just don't fit into larger flocks. Maybe she'll fit into a smaller flock

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

However he would never ever interfere with a hen battle. Those were rare but not once did he step in.

This is astounding for me ALL my rooster would, at even a hint of battle, step in and assert dominance!

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

And that was from many diff breeds and ages!