One hen being picked on. (sorry long post with background info)

[Tigertrea]

My chickens are just over 1yr old. I started with 11 but, culled one roo last summer then the other about a month ago after he started to get way too aggressive with people. I also had one hen die a couple of weeks ago. She had been "unwell" most of her life after battling sour crop at about 12 weeks old. I didn't realize she was getting sick again and found her dead one very hot day a few weeks ago. Also, over the winter I think I had a space issue and feather picking became a problem that I have yet to solve. All my chickens have feathers missing from their saddle and rump areas. I let them free range as much as I can (only a few hours 2-4 days a week). My coop is 4X8 with a 10X6 run attached. With only 8 chickens it "should" be enough space. My feeder is inside the coop and water in the run (changed at least once a day). I also feed them treats that is mostly my kitchen scraps and fridge clean out. During the day, right now, I give them a large zip-lock bag of frozen squash to keep them occupied and cooler.

A week ago heard a commotion in the coop and went to check it out. 2 hens were "sharing" the one nest box (of 3) they all lay in. But, one was really picking on another and had almost opened a wound on her head just behind her comb. So, I sprayed her with blu-kote. The next night I put stop-pick on everyone. Within 2 days it was all gone.

Yesterday I noticed the picked on hen inside the coop while all the others were dust bathing in the run. I thought, no big deal. I let everyone out to free range. When I put them away (lured with corn, their fave) the picked on hen did not want to go in the run at all. I really had to work at getting her in. Later I went out with left over steak to give them. When this one hen tried to get some one of my Colombian cross hens yelled at her and pecked at her. They all then chased her away. So, I saved back one piece and took it to her in the coop.

This morning when I went to give fresh water this picked on hen was inside the coop, on a roost again.

I just don't know what to do for her. I hate seeing her shunned like this. She is a Barred Rock. I also have 2 black sex linked, 1 RIr, one other BR and 3 colombian crosses.

 

[loriesmall]

I have the same problem. I can't wait to see the replies. My picked on one is an Australorp. She is the only one of her kind, even though we got all of the chicks at the same time. She was the "bonus" chick.

 

[Messipaw]

Hi
In my experience this sucks. I hate the whole bulling thing that goes along with the "pecking order". I have the same issue going on with my EE-Bella. She has always been the picked on hen out of my six girls. I always interfere on her behalf to deter the other girls from picking on her. When i see something happening i put myself between them or shake my coffee can full of rocks to break up the pushy pecks. Me acting as pack leader really seems to help. No Bella has decided to go broody. This is an issue because we are not allowed roosters....she sits on an empty nest ..the favorite nest. This is causing issues with the other laying hens. The loud squawking that occurs so early in the AM is insane. I go out and remove her and place her in the adjoining nesting box to open up the preferred nesting box.

okay so how i fixed my problem. I sectioned off a piece of yard with chicken wire. I used this area to feed the girls their favorite treats. I figured out who was the highest on the pecking order by putting a pile of food in an open area and waiting who was allowed to eat first and who pecked who. That being noticed I picked the nicer of the hen lower on the pecking order but higher then Bella and allowed them to eat the special treats with Bella in this closed off area. Once the lower of the pecking order girls was done eating i allowed the queen bees in. The hens that were used to eating first were now eating only special treats last. They were not happy at first but within three days they learned not to be so aggressive towards the lower in the pecking order line.


basically i worked on reprogramming the bullies that were protecting the head of the group. I also lay snacks and treats and feed out in a long line to avoid a mad rush to a pile of food.

When the were sleeping at night on the roosting bar I reorganized them and put Bella in a closer to the top rnking position.

I hope this helps! Good luck.

 

[Judy]

There is no easy answer to this that I know of. If they were mine I believe I'd approach it as a feather picking problem, which is not an easy thing to resolve, either. The main causes of feather picking are usually given as too little protein, too little space, and boredom -- which to me is a corollary of too little space. It's easy to reduce their protein intake without meaning to, if you give a lot of veggie scraps. The "rule of thumb" for space which is probably most often quoted here is 4 sq ft per chicken in the coop and 10 in the run. Thr trouble is, that may be generous for some flocks and not enough for others. And there are cases of feather picking which don't have any cause that people have been able to identify. Certainly, if it becomes an established habit, it gets harder and harder to change the behavior. I'll add some links on space and feather picking.

Loriesmall, if you have one that is picked on badly when the others are not getting picked on, one possible cause is that that bird is sick, and the others sense it. Another is that they all have some problem, perhaps lice/mites or worms that you can't see, and one is sicker from them than the others.

Needless to say, these are just guesses, and there certainly could be something going on that I haven't thought of.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/700308/coop-and-run-size/0_20#post_9504811 (post #2)

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/517547/peepers-removed-and-no-feather-picking-d/0_20#post_6586027

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/697052/i-think-i-found-a-miracle-cure-for-feather-picking/0_20

 

[Tigertrea]

Thanks for the replies. I'll try to get them out of the run more since I have no way of increasing the size of it. Hopefully they will get over the feather picking. I was letting them out more but, my work schedule changed and I'm just not home and awake during daylight hours enough anymore. Maybe I'll just have to let them range while I'm sleeping and away from home during the day.

I try to give them a lot of meat scraps but, maybe still too much veggies. I also tried for a couple of months supplementing with a high protein supplement but, that didn't help the picking at all.

This really does suck. I may need to just get rid of my chickens. My lifestyle has changed since I decided to get them and maybe I just can't "do" chickens.