One of my girls is being bullied!! Help!

[Becki78]

One of my six girls is being bullied so badly. One eye was pecked at really bad, it was swollen for a couple of days and now is getting better. I am finding her feathers everywhere! She is not bald in any one spot so I think they are just grabbing her where ever they can. And now the past two nights when I go to bring in the feed I have noticed she is not sleeping on the roost with the others, she is sleeping in the nest box all alone. I just feel awful for her. Is there anything I can do to make them get along?

P.S. they have a big coop and run for the six of them so I don't think space is an issue.

 

[sumi]

Are all the hens bullying her, or is one worse than the others? If there is one really mean hen in the flock I would remove her for a week, so they'd shuffle their pecking order and bump her down a peg or two. If it's a team effort it may be kinder to remove the bullied hen from the flock and keep an eye on the rest to make sure they don't pick another victim.

Here is a good article on bullying behaviour in chickens:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/bullying-behavior-in-chickens

Best of luck!

 

[jak2002003]

Maybe she is sick and thats why they are picking on her.

If she in not roosting it may be she is too weak to fly up and hold on to the roost all night.

You have found lots of her feathers around.... but have you seen the other birds pecking her and pulling them out? Maybe she is molting and the stress of the molt has lowered her immune system.

Catch her up and see if she is still nice and plump. Also check her poops are normal. Is her comb a deep red - this is a sign she is healthy.

How big is the run? Can you let them out to free range at all. Then she can keep her distance from the others if she is being bullied, and can't get trapped in a corner or constantly chased about.

I hope she will be OK.

A good idea might be to put her inside a large cage, or dog crate, inside the coop, with food and water and a roost inside.

Then she can get better from her eye, and get stronger, and you can check if she is sick or not. The other birds can't get to her to hurt her, and she can get braver and used to them, so when you let her out she will not be scared and play the 'victim' which can encourage other hens to attack.

good luck. let us know what happens.

 

[maheen]

I have a similar problem. We have 9 Rhode Island reds and one chicken has been sniffling quite a bit lately. I'm guessing it might have a cold? But all my hens get together and bully this hen. They mount her and peck at her neck. At night she sleeps by herself, and when we let them free range the bullied hen secludes itself away from the group. The bullied hen has been looking a bit thin lately. What should I do plz help.