Pecking Order Help

[Folly's place]

Your coop and run could be larger, and part of the story is the 4' and 3' width; neither give birds enough space to avoid the personal space of another bird. Think of avoiding a bad guy in an alley! Consider reworking your coop and run as soon as possible this spring!
Mary

 

[rosemarythyme]

Your coop and run could be larger, and part of the story is the 4' and 3' width; neither give birds enough space to avoid the personal space of another bird. Think of avoiding a bad guy in an alley!

x2. You're under the usual suggested minimum for 4 birds, plus the narrow width causes issues by not allowing birds to pass by one another without crossing into each other's personal space. If a bird is being chased, it needs about 6' or more to get away from the pursuer. Do you have room to increase the run space?

 

[btdupree]

x2. You're under the usual suggested minimum for 4 birds, plus the narrow width causes issues by not allowing birds to pass by one another without crossing into each other's personal space. If a bird is being chased, it needs about 6' or more to get away from the pursuer. Do you have room to increase the run space?

Okay, I had to go back & do some actual measuring instead of estimating! The width of the coop & run are 4ft & the length from end of run to end of coop is 16ft (not counting the boxes on the end). The coop itself is 4 x 6 ft. & raised. I'm sure hoping that's enough room b/c it can't be reworked at this point. I'd just have to decrease the flock! Thanks for the help

 

[rosemarythyme]

Okay, I had to go back & do some actual measuring instead of estimating! The width of the coop & run are 4ft & the length from end of run to end of coop is 16ft (not counting the boxes on the end). The coop itself is 4 x 6 ft. & raised. I'm sure hoping that's enough room b/c it can't be reworked at this point. I'd just have to decrease the flock! Thanks for the help

Yeah that's tough, because going strictly by sq ft you have enough space, but it's the narrowness of the run is the issue. If a dominant bird is taking offense to a lower ranked bird being too close (and 4' is too close), it'll want to chase it off every time it tries to pass by. And that can progress to other bullying behaviors such as fighting, feather picking, etc.

RIRs also have a reputation for being bossy/dominant than other breeds, so that might be something of a contributing factor as well. And some birds, regardless of breed, just want more space than others.

For now I would try the pinless peepers as well as Pick-no-more lotion (makes feathers taste bad, in case they're now in the habit of ripping them out and eating them), as well as cluttering up the run a bit (which I think you mentioned you were doing, but if not, that'll give picked on birds some hiding space).

 

[btdupree]

Okay, yes, I'll try the pick no more lotion! I've got painless peeps on the way & I'll just keep adjusting as we go. Thanks for all the input!

 

[btdupree]

Actually, one follow up question---should I reintroduce both isolated chickens at once, or should I do it one at a time?

 

[Onyxflock]

Actually, one follow up question---should I reintroduce both isolated chickens at once, or should I do it one at a time?

If you can't increase your run, you might add a divider board or bricks down the center to separate the space and give the victim a way to get away to the other side.
My mean hen is pretty heavy, so I added tires standing up and put some garden stakes in front of them. When she started chasing them she had to climb or crawl over obstacles to get the smaller girls. She gave up random attacks, but still bosses around the feeders

 

[Onyxflock]

Consider changing to a 20% protein all flock diet, with oyster shell in a separate container, rather than the 16% layer feed, and leave out the scratch for now. These are growing birds, and eating a better diet may help a lot. also, check the mill date on each bag of feed, and buy what you can use within two months of milling.
The worst feather pecking birds we had were production reds, including those orange hatchery type RIRs. We no longer have any in our flock for that reason.
Mary

I just changed to that Layena free range feed fr9m the stock crumble at thr local feed store. It seemed like a whole nutrition product with the fly larvae in it.
I'll be interested to see if a change in feed will make a big difference for her in them pecking the others.

 

[btdupree]

I just changed to that Layena free range feed fr9m the stock crumble at thr local feed store. It seemed like a whole nutrition product with the fly larvae in it.
I'll be interested to see if a change in feed will make a big difference for her in them pecking the others.

I'm getting the higher protein feed to see if that helps, too. Weirdly, now that I'm thinking about it....the changes in attitude follow my moving them to the Layena omega+ feed...hmmm & the scratch. Yep, hopefully that will help, too

 

[aart]

I'm getting the higher protein feed to see if that helps, too. Weirdly, now that I'm thinking about it....the changes in attitude follow my moving them to the Layena omega+ feed...hmmm & the scratch. Yep, hopefully that will help, too

Diet improvement may help, but space is still the main issue here.