One Hen being bullied!

[Caitd326]

Hoping for some advice and sorry for the long post! I have a flock of 9 hens. Two are about 4.5 years old. Two are 2.5 and five are 8 months old. We introduced the newer ones to the flock with no issues in July. This past week I noticed my 2.5 year old hen Brownie in the runs away from the rest of the flock. We had snow and our runs are very large so I don’t clear the snow from the whole area just from the predator proof enclosed area by their coops. She was just standing out there in the snow all day long. So after investigating we realized 4 of the 8 month old hens were going after her every time she tried to eat or drink. One was actually perched over the food monitoring her! We separated them. I have two coops, the younger naturally stay in one and the older in another. The older hens don’t fight at all. I thought they might have been freaking out over the snow. It’s melted now and I tried to reintroduce. They were fine for about an hour but as soon as I went in my house the 4 young hens actually attacked Brownie this time all at once and I really think they would have killed her if I hadn’t seen from my window. What causes this behavior out of the blue? Brownie has always been at the bottom of the pecking order but she is bigger than the young hens and perfectly healthy. The young hens don’t dare mess with my other older hens. Should I just keep them apart indefinitely? Thanks I’m advance I’ve never had this problem before!

 

[azygous]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/chicken-bully-chicken-victim-a-two-sided-issue.73923/ This may help you.

A hen with a timid temperament can easily be pushed into a chronic victim role by the introduction of a younger cohesive sub-flock acting much like a street gang of junior high punks. They have the advantage of numbers, and a timid hen can lose what little self confidence she had. This in turn fuels the aggressive youngsters because they sense how insecure she is. Then it becomes a vicious circle. You need to interrupt it or this hen could easily meet a tragic end. The article will show you how to help her.

 

[Caitd326]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/chicken-bully-chicken-victim-a-two-sided-issue.73923/ This may help you.

A hen with a timid temperament can easily be pushed into a chronic victim role by the introduction of a younger cohesive sub-flock acting much like a street gang of junior high punks. They have the advantage of numbers, and a timid hen can lose what little self confidence she had. This in turn fuels the aggressive youngsters because they sense how insecure she is. Then it becomes a vicious circle. You need to interrupt it or this hen could easily meet a tragic end. The article will show you how to help her.

Thank you so much for sharing. What you described sounds exactly like what is happening. I will try separating Brownie alone to see if that can helpget her self confidence back. Great article.

 

[Alaskan]

It might work better if you isolate the most aggressive hen or hens... otherwise each time you try to reintroduce Brownie, she will once again be at the bottom of the pecking order. (If Brownie could be where she can fully see the flock,as in the article azygous wrote... then that is different)

If you could isolate the young pack for maybe a week. During this time Brownie could get her confidence back and reestablish her place in the flock.

Then introduce ONE of the young pack at a time, with a 3 to 4 day gap between each introduction. This would force each bully to be alone, at the bottom of the pecking order for a bit. This might make it easier for Brownie to keep from being bottom hen.

As you slowly reintroduce the bullies... if one of them starts getting mean, put it back into segregation.

Also, definitely have AT LEAST 2 feeders and 2 waterers, each out of sight of the other.

 

[Caitd326]

It might work better if you isolate the most aggressive hen or hens... otherwise each time you try to reintroduce Brownie, she will once again be at the bottom of the pecking order. (If Brownie could be where she can fully see the flock,as in the article azygous wrote... then that is different)

If you could isolate the young pack for maybe a week. During this time Brownie could get her confidence back and reestablish her place in the flock.

Then introduce ONE of the young pack at a time, with a 3 to 4 day gap between each introduction. This would force each bully to be alone, at the bottom of the pecking order for a bit. This might make it easier for Brownie to keep from being bottom hen.

As you slowly reintroduce the bullies... if one of them starts getting mean, put it back into segregation.

Also, definitely have AT LEAST 2 feeders and 2 waterers, each out of sight of the other.

Thank you so much! I think that is where I went wrong. I isolated my young hens from my older ones with a wire yard fence for about a week and then took it down and that’s when the 4 attacked Brownie. I put a feeder and a water source in the fenced off area but they are visible to both flocks, should I move? I will try again and bring one in at a time. I know who the most aggressive ones are. I have an American Leghorn that doesn’t join in the bullying at all. The Rhode Island Red seems to be the ring leader. Brownie is a fam favorite because my son hatched her from an egg at school. I don’t want anything to happen to her.

 

[Alaskan]

Thank you so much! I think that is where I went wrong. I isolated my young hens from my older ones with a wire yard fence for about a week and then took it down and that’s when the 4 attacked Brownie. I put a feeder and a water source in the fenced off area but they are visible to both flocks, should I move? I will try again and bring one in at a time. I know who the most aggressive ones are. I have an American Leghorn that doesn’t join in the bullying at all. The Rhode Island Red seems to be the ring leader. Brownie is a fam favorite because my son hatched her from an egg at school. I don’t want anything to happen to her.

As many feeders and waterers as possible is best. So if one set is in the middle where all can see it, that is just fine.
Good luck.