One of my hens is getting beat up on by the rest of the flock.

[R.M. Hens]

I just had this happen to one of my Rocks. She had a little scratch on her neck and the next day she was all bloody and the scratch was now a hole. The other girls would not stop pecking at it which caused blood and more pecking. I removed the hurt girl for about a week, long enough for her to heal properly without the others picking at her booboo. Once I put her back into the flock everyone was fine and she got right back into the swing of things like nothing happened.

 

[jrhodes]

I'm having the same problem too. All my hens are picking ( or shoudl I say pecking) on my Barred Rocks. They literally pecked one of them to death and they are now starting on the other one. I don't understand why its the BR's that are being targeted. I really don't know what to do!! I turned them out early today so maybe they will leave her alone.

 

[valerie0001]

I still have my black austrolope "Charm" out of the pen. Charm still has run of the backyard and our house. She stays around the big pen were the other chickens are. She only comes into the house to visit and lay her egg (on our couch) and at night. Her hygiene still continues to amaze us. One day, this past week, we let all the chickens out to run the backyard. At night the chickens went to their coup and Charm came in our house. I plan to give this situation plenty of time and am able.

To 70 monte: I would give your situation another few weeks or a month, then put the hen back in and keep a very close eye on her for a good while - especially when your hen is trying to lay. If problems occur again either keep her removed or get rid of the perpetrator. That's what I would do.

 

[70monte]

I bought a few chicks like someone suggested but that didn't work out. She pecked at a couple when they got too close. I now have the chicks in a dog carrier in the coop. The Hen did lay her first egg today since I seperated here from the rest. She is more lively than before. I will probably leave her in the coop for another week or so and then try to put her back with the rest. Most of her feathers have grown back.

Wayne

 

[70monte]

Well, today I tried putting the hen back with the others and that did not work out. As soon as I put her down in the yard, the rooster came after her to mate. Of course the other hens ran after him and started pecking at her. Than two of the other hens started fighting each other. Of course the rooster wouldn't leave her alone so I caught him and was going to put him in the extra coop she just came out of to see if she would be accepted back by the other hens but after I got him in the other coop, I decided it wasn't a good idea because he has always sneezed since the day I got him and acts like he can't breath right a lot of times and since the chicks are in the coop in a dog crate, I didn't want to chance giving them something he might have although none of the other chickens has ever done the sneezing thing.

So right now the rooster is locked in the newer coop so I can see how the hens will interact with the picked on hen without the rooster there. I will probably have to put her back in the old coop or get rid of the rooster which I really don't want to do. He did try biting me the last time I caught him which wasn't good for him. What a mess. I don't understand how they can all live together for over two years and now all of a sudden they want to pick on one of them. This never happened to me the last time I raised chickens.

Wayne

 

[NottinghamChicks]

The key I believe was to get older chicks and to keep them seperated with screen for a while then to introduce them. Hopefully it was the rooster thing that caused the issue and she can be reintroduced to the flock. Slow introduction is always key with chickens and they should be similar in size. I hope things work out for you and your hen. Sometimes chickens are just plain mean.

 

[southlake chick]

I just posted on this same subject. I have two silkies and a mix of others to total 9. They have been together for a year and there is not a rooster. All of a sudden they all turned on my sweet little silkie, the other silkie is the meanest. After reading the other comments I moved her in with some new babies that I have that are about two months old, they are curious but have not hurt her. Then the weirdest thing, she dropped an egg with a paper thin shell that broke open, she scarfed it up. I am going to leave her there for a while and see how she does, she is my favorite, I feel so sorry for her

 

[70monte]

I ended up putting the picked on hen back in the old coop. Even with the rooster locked in the newer coop, the picked on hen was chased out of the coop run and was in the corner of the fenced in back yard trying to hide under a cinder block. When the chicks get too big to stay in the dog crate, I'm going to have to put the hen back in with the others. I don't have any place else to put her unless she can live with the chicks when they get bigger. What a mess.

Wayne

 

[70monte]

Here is an update on this issue:

I ended up getting some more hens and this fixed the problem of the hen getting beat up. She now can be out with the rest of the chickens and not get picked on. I now have a total of 14 chickens. The chicks I bought back in May are now almost full grown and are in with the adult chickens.

Getting more hens also seems to have settled down my Rooster. He now has 13 to focus on instead of just a few.

Wayne

 

[rustywagons]

I have had luck putting news chickens during the dark. I had a brood that I had to relocate and put more eggs under. I did that in the dark too. Seemed to help.