Pecking order or bullying? Sudden fued between 2/5 of my flock.

[gnomeanne]

Hi all,

My bantams are about 11-12 weeks old. I am pretty sure everyone is female (no reddening of combs etc.).

All of a sudden my Green Queen EE HATES my Barred Plymouth Rock. They can't be in the same quadrant as one another, and my BPR keeps running away like scared for her life. GQEE will scuffle and pull feathers out if BPR gets too close. Everyone else is fine chilling with either. It seeeems like pecking order, like GQEE won't let her get near the food while the others are eating, but it also seems really targeted and violent. It's like she can't stand her.

There was total harmony up until now! I've had them from day 1!

I was so concerned with BPR in the henhouse last night that I put the GQEE in a little comfy cat carrier in the henhouse. (She was right mad about it.) I don't want to mess with the pecking order, but I also don't know if this constitutes more than that.

Not sure what to do. This has been going on for 24 hours now. When I went to check on them yesterday BPR had a little bit of blood drawn on her face and I cleaned it up and watched all this mentioned behavior yesterday. I am a new chicken owner so I'm trying to shelve any horror I might feel with the process, but eveything I'm reading it seems like it's treading into bully territory? They have plenty of space (the amount of space I have is suitable for ~8 standard hens) and enrichment and feeding stations.

Could this blow over or do I have the makings of a real disharmony on my hands? Anything I can do to help the situation?

It's frustrating because so much of the advice online is geared toward introducing new chickens to the flock. These 5 gals have been together their whole lives and this is a very sudden attitude shift. BPR is exhibiting submissive behavior by running away and cowering, but that doesn't seem to be enough!

 

[-Flash-]

You could 'remove' the GQEE for a few days. That will shift the pecking order around... but if that doesn't work, I wouldn't have a clue what to do.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Any photos of your coop and run?

Having multiple feeders spread apart, and plenty of clutter to break up run space can help reduce bullying issues.

Your birds are still young but maturing and feeling some hormonal surges so I'd anticipate things will keep changing behavior wise in the flock.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Could you post photos of these two? A close-up of the head showing comb and wattles and often the harder shot, one showing the legs, profile, and posture. This sounds more like cockerel behavior than pullet. Some can be really challenging to sex, even at that age. If it is a pure BR, a male will look a lot lighter than a female. At that age that could be a big clue.

Some cockerels start puberty that young but it is a bit young for most. I don't keep all-pullet flocks so I haven't seen how they react as they mature. But any flock will establish a pecking order that young. The cockerel's hormones can make it more violent.

I once had 19 cockerels I was raising for meat. Around 15 weeks of age one took an intense dislike of another. I thought they'd work it out but the weaker one wound up dead. Like you said, really targeted, nothing like that happened between the others, just that one. Oh, they had their typical adolescent squabbles but nothing targeted.

Another time I had a two-week-old kill its hatchmate and start on another one. They were being raised by broody hen, she did not interfere. I isolated that 2-week-old all day and put him back with the broody and the rest of the chicks that night. That was the end of that behavior but I did keep a close eye on it for several days. That bully was a cockerel and he was the first of that group to go to the freezer.

I don't know how dangerous your situation really is. I usually let them fight it out. It can get pretty violent but other than those times they work it out. But you just never know. Sometimes you should intervene.

My suggestion is to isolate the bully for a few days and then put then back together when you can monitor. Sometimes isolating helps, sometimes it doesn't. If you haven't already done it widely spaced food and water stations can help keep them apart. If the BR doesn't want to sleep in the same place as the other, maybe try to find a safe place for it.

Good luck.

 

[gnomeanne]

Photos attached.
I have three feeding stations in the coop/run. One is the larger main one, one is small cups hanging from the hardware cloth, and the other is in the henhouse—I didn’t want to originally but added that bc the days are getting so short here so they’re in the henhouse for about 12 hours now and they’re still growing. There are plenty of perches and hiding spots. The issue is the snap change of behavior for me not the setup. There’s no way for me to make large changes now to the setup anyway unless it’s minor.
The vibes were slightly better yesterday—still present but I didn’t witness any feather pulling just pecking. This makes me hopeful it’s pecking order and Freyja (GQEE) just rules with a surprisingly bitchy iron first. I really hope my gentle giant buff Brahma who is Freyja’s right hand takes over at some point. She would be a much more benevolent ruler (I think…we know how much power can corrupt).

 

[rosemarythyme]

I don't see any obvious cockerel signs (but I'm not always the best at spotting those).

Since I can't see the whole set up just off the top of my head I'd recommend even more clutter, but maybe you already have plenty that's not shown. Obviously you still want some open space for the birds to use/

Good to hear that tensions are slightly declined since your initial post, but obviously keep an eye on things and be prepared to separate the bully if needed if things worsen again.

 

[gnomeanne]

Also including a video. You can see the tension. Like GQEE doesn’t want her around.

I don't see any obvious cockerel signs (but I'm not always the best at spotting those).

Since I can't see the whole set up just off the top of my head I'd recommend even more clutter, but maybe you already have plenty that's not shown. Obviously you still want some open space for the birds to use/

Good to hear that tensions are slightly declined since your initial post, but obviously keep an eye on things and be prepared to separate the bully if needed if things worsen again.

yeah my chicken lady friend is pretty sure pullet and she’s studying to be an ornithologist so I feel pretty certain. I added more clutter and am sort of “dominating” the naughty one when I see her being a b by holding her or smooshing her to the ground. The odd thing is, to me and maybe I’m just new at this, is the light switch feeling about it. All fine and dandy and the just VIBES from EE toward BR. Everyone else totally groovy! Like if it were boredom with the run/coop you’d think everyone else would be acting up, right?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Also including a video. You can see the tension. Like GQEE doesn’t want her around.

yeah my chicken lady friend is pretty sure pullet and she’s studying to be an ornithologist so I feel pretty certain. I added more clutter and am sort of “dominating” the naughty one when I see her being a b by holding her or smooshing her to the ground. The odd thing is, to me and maybe I’m just new at this, is the light switch feeling about it. All fine and dandy and the just VIBES from EE toward BR. Everyone else totally groovy! Like if it were boredom with the run/coop you’d think everyone else would be acting up, right?

Not seeing the video. It needs to be hosted elsewhere (i.e. youtube) and then linked here.

As far as "light switch," pecking order fights can just flare up from anywhere - I've been in the run a few times where a fight breaks out and two birds just go at it for 10-20 seconds. But once it's over the losing bird runs away/gets chased away and peace returns. Main concern here (and what might make this more of a bullying case) is that you've seen it more than once, and there's food guarding, and some blood being drawn in the fights.

 

[gnomeanne]

Not seeing the video. It needs to be hosted elsewhere (i.e. youtube) and then linked here.

As far as "light switch," pecking order fights can just flare up from anywhere - I've been in the run a few times where a fight breaks out and two birds just go at it for 10-20 seconds. But once it's over the losing bird runs away/gets chased away and peace returns. Main concern here (and what might make this more of a bullying case) is that you've seen it more than once, and there's food guarding, and some blood being drawn in the fights.

Yeah the video is kind of moot bc EE is definitely going after BPR.

everyone else is fine with each other. It’s this *very* personal tiff. I’m thinking about relegating EE in a dog kennel in the run and cat carrier in the hen house at night. This just seems super weird and not covered anywhere else since it’s just this one way feud.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Fingers crossed this is more hormonal than anything, given their ages (teen birds can be cranky just like teen humans), and that things will smooth out between them once they're closer to POL and hormones settle back down.