Pecking Order - Update: Am I a Chicken Abuser?

[ohiofarmgirl]

i love that her name is Salad

no you are not being mean. mostly they just need enough room to get away. for instance if you put kind of a baffle to hide behind, or let them have a lot of room to run away... that kind of thing. or as the other suggest if you put the aggressive hen in a cage for a couple of days her jets will cool way down. the theory is that you are changing the pecking order by removing the boss hen and she'll have a new place when you set her free

no you are not silly for trying to control this - we all do to some extent. why i was just out there giving the business to one of my buff orps for challenging my lovely momma duck and her babies!

you are doing a great job!

 

[substandardtim]

when we mixed in some younger ones to the older group we sat the smaller ones in a large cage in the coop for a while. then started the daily freedom walks. if one of the big girls got out of hand we shoued them away.

my wife got sick of the bullying. so she grabbed one of our sons tiny water guns and any fighting meant the agresser got water in the face. the big girls learned in less then an hour not to harris the little hens. there is the ocasional squaking at each other but no pecking biteing or agression. and the little hens never have a mark on them.

 

[KMHunter]

I'm going through this right now too. I just introduced my Ameraucana and Marans to the flock this weekend. The older girls(only four weeks or so) are pretty bad about picking on the new ones. I actually decided this morning to separate the two that are the instigaters from the flock and from each other for a few days. I will see what happens then. I read on another thread that someone then put the same perfume on all of her hens and put them together and they all got along great after that.

I though that was an interesting twist on integrating chickens. Wonder if it would work?

 

[cnj-tx50]

I had the same problem, but in the coop at night. Horrible noises that would last about 30 to 45 minutes when they went to roost. And it wasn't as if they don't have enough they just all wanted the same spot. So for about a week I would go out about 10 minutes after the fighting broke out and start spreading them out. Now 3 weeks latter no noise and when I do mu last check before bed they are all lined up. No more blood or scabs!!!

 

[2DogsFarm]

Well, things seem to be evening out - no more blood on Salad

Ohiofarmgirl: I also have pullets named Noodle & Xtra Crispy
I named them before I bought them.

OK - so I am now Head Honcho & The Enforcer.
Nice to know I have their respect

I like the squirtgun idea - may have to arm myself...

The perfume idea is just too funny

I can see myself shopping at Macy's & asking the salesperson:
"What scent would you suggest for chickens?"

Thanks everyone for the advice & handholding.
So far no Chicken Jail waits for Markena, but she better watch her Ps & Qs!

 

[Brindlebtch]

I had a bully and put a clip-on peeper on her and that sorted her out pretty quickly. After a day or 2 of 'OMG I can't see the end of my beak!' she got used to them and could eat and drink but not pick on anyone. I didn't have to separate her so it was the easiest solution for me. After a month I took them off and she had calmed down considerably.

 

[KMHunter]

What is a clip on peeper?

 

[Nyrial]

I have an australorp hen in "chicken jail" right now. Hoping it works

She's sweet for us to handle, but she gives the new ones a really hard time. Unfortunately the DH and I both work all day, so I don't really have time to sit out there with a stick or squirt gun to watch them. The others will chase them, but she's relentless about the chasing and pecking.

Naughty Chickens!

On a side note, when do the rooster hormones start kicking in? I have one that acts like a total idiot, and he's at most 5 weeks old. He's in a naughty cage too.

 

[Ridgerunner]

It is not "chicken jail". It is protective custody. Doesn't that feel better?

 

[fldiver97]

Quote:
I have read on another post (can't remember where.....darn....) that chickens have a poor sense of smell...I would not waste my $$ on perfume. Also - when they groom their feathers I don't know if that would be yucky for the chicken 'cause I am sure it tastes bad.... Some OP have asked in the 'Managing Your Flock' section how to introduce chickens .... you may want to check there for some good advise.