picking on the banty

[amy & marc]

We have 4 chickens: a banty, an americana (I think) and two others. At one point we thought the banty was egg bound as she stopped laying eggs after about 1 month, but after a visit to the vet, we determined that was not the case. We did put her on antibiotics as there was a bit of blood in her poop - something I did not realize until we were at the vet office. After about another month, we decided she must just be broody, as she continued to stay in the nesting area, unless we put her in the yard and closed the door to the coop, and there are still no eggs.

Now we have noticed that the other chickens are picking on her: pecking at her, chasing her in the yard, etc. Once, while in the coop, one of the chickens got her on the back of the neck while another pecked at her head - no injuries. She got away, and ran back up to the nesting area.

The behavior seems to be escalating, and the banty is still not laying eggs.

On a side note, the americana isn't laying eggs either - the biggest bully of them all.

Any suggestions to curb this behavior?

 

[Guitartists]

I have a banty like this and she avoids the other birds as much as possible. Mine free range, so her exposure to them is minimal. She is the last one in at night to avoid being chased and as soon as the door opens, she goes off into her own corner of the yard. She doesn't lay often either...at least not in the nest boxes.

I would suggest either rehoming your little gal, or providing her with a second coop/yard. Or just leave them to their own devices until they establish a final pecking order.... though your little gal may ALWAYS be right where she is now.

Good Luck!