Possible bullying? Need insight.

[RootedTogetherHomestead]

We have 6 pullets (2 Barred Rocks, 2 Golden Lace, 1 Easter Egger, and 1 Sapphire Sky/Gem). Everyone has been getting along well; the occasional pecking happens or a short chase away, but nothing that causes injury or makes hens avoid one another.. Until Sunday. We noticed on Sunday that Lavender (our EE) was hiding in the coop and away from everyone. We observed what was happening. Sunshine (our goldie) was chasing her around almost non-stop to the point that Lavender avoided Sunshine completely. Our goldies (Sunshine and Marigold) are almost inseparable, but Marigold doesn't do anything towards Lavender. Our goldies have been sleeping on the corner at night and not roosting; however, some day last week, they were roosting on the bar with everyone else.. I noticed that Marigold was next to Lavender, and Sunshine was at the other end.. I noticed Sunshine tried to nudge Lavender from her spot, but she did not move. Then the goldies went back to sleeping on the floor in the corner.

Lavender is obviously at the bottom of the pecking order and is very timid. However, none of the other girls are like that at all towards her. So, after we noticed that Lavender was in obvious distress from Sunshine, we crated Sunshine. Sunshine is in the runner, in her own crate with food/water, and almost immediately, Lavender came out and was doing her usual stuff. Monday and yesterday, Sunshine was crated for doing the same chasing.. Yesterday evening (it is very hot where we are), I let her out, and she didn't chase Lavender at all; however, that changed this morning, and she chased/pulled feathers. Sunshine also does a hackle flash at us and does not like us holding her at all. We also saw that she was doing a sort of charge attack where her body was low to the ground and she ran up towards Marigold (our other goldie). I hate putting her in the crate, but I also hate seeing Lavender hiding and darting away from Sunshine, even when she isn't chasing her.. I understand pecking order chicken stuff will happen, but I feel Lavender was bullied, and Sunshine was excessively aggressive. (or am I wrong?) Lavender does not fight back/stand her ground. I just do not want anyone seriously hurt, or Lavender not getting food/water/dust bath.

Please give us advice on what to do. My heart cannot take it. Thanks y'all.

 

[thecatumbrella]

I'm really sorry. I went through this myself only a few weeks ago. Your Sunshine = my Flora. Flora even did the same behavior of puffing out at us, which was pretty bizarre. I think her laying hormones were starting to come in, and she just hated the world. She would chase her victim relentlessly. That, to me, is outside of normal pecking order.

We did one week of penning Flora alongside the main pen. Everyone did fantastic through the mesh paneling. When we let her out a week later, she immediately searched for and instigated a mob against her victim. Constant chasing/pecking/kicking, same as you.

Others will offer you some excellent advice. @azygous in particular has a lot of experience dealing with the bully/victim dynamic. For me, personally, I only have so much patience for an aggressive bird. I rehomed mine with a full disclosure of her behavior, and she's doing great in her new free-range home with cockerels to keep her in check.

I know what you mean about it breaking your heart. Unfortunately, this seems to be part of chicken dynamics. We don't free range, and that absolutely can bring undesirable behaviors to a head.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

We have 6 pullets (2 Barred Rocks, 2 Golden Lace, 1 Easter Egger, and 1 Sapphire Sky/Gem). Everyone has been getting along well; the occasional pecking happens or a short chase away, but nothing that causes injury or makes hens avoid one another.. Until Sunday. We noticed on Sunday that Lavender (our EE) was hiding in the coop and away from everyone. We observed what was happening. Sunshine (our goldie) was chasing her around almost non-stop to the point that Lavender avoided Sunshine completely. Our goldies (Sunshine and Marigold) are almost inseparable, but Marigold doesn't do anything towards Lavender. Our goldies have been sleeping on the corner at night and not roosting; however, some day last week, they were roosting on the bar with everyone else.. I noticed that Marigold was next to Lavender, and Sunshine was at the other end.. I noticed Sunshine tried to nudge Lavender from her spot, but she did not move. Then the goldies went back to sleeping on the floor in the corner.

Lavender is obviously at the bottom of the pecking order and is very timid. However, none of the other girls are like that at all towards her. So, after we noticed that Lavender was in obvious distress from Sunshine, we crated Sunshine. Sunshine is in the runner, in her own crate with food/water, and almost immediately, Lavender came out and was doing her usual stuff. Monday and yesterday, Sunshine was crated for doing the same chasing.. Yesterday evening (it is very hot where we are), I let her out, and she didn't chase Lavender at all; however, that changed this morning, and she chased/pulled feathers. Sunshine also does a hackle flash at us and does not like us holding her at all. We also saw that she was doing a sort of charge attack where her body was low to the ground and she ran up towards Marigold (our other goldie). I hate putting her in the crate, but I also hate seeing Lavender hiding and darting away from Sunshine, even when she isn't chasing her.. I understand pecking order chicken stuff will happen, but I feel Lavender was bullied, and Sunshine was excessively aggressive. (or am I wrong?) Lavender does not fight back/stand her ground. I just do not want anyone seriously hurt, or Lavender not getting food/water/dust bath.

Please give us advice on what to do. My heart cannot take it. Thanks y'all.

How big is your run, in feet? Do you have plenty of "clutter," meaning things for your lavender to hide behind, run through, get under or on top of, etc.? For example, a pallet leaning against a wall or fence; a pallet set up on blocks or sawhorses; a large PVC tunnel, old coffee table, chairs laying down on their sides. This will make your run look very messy, but will give your lavender places to get away from Sunshine. Also, how many feeders and water stations do you have? You need multiples and they need to be out of eyeshot of each other so Sunshine can't see Lavender eating/ drinking and run her off. These strategies may not stop the bullying but should give Lavender some relief.

 

[RootedTogetherHomestead]

How big is your run, in feet? Do you have plenty of "clutter," meaning things for your lavender to hide behind, run through, get under or on top of, etc.? For example, a pallet leaning against a wall or fence; a pallet set up on blocks or sawhorses; a large PVC tunnel, old coffee table, chairs laying down on their sides. This will make your run look very messy, but will give your lavender places to get away from Sunshine. Also, how many feeders and water stations do you have? You need multiples and they need to be out of eyeshot of each other so Sunshine can't see Lavender eating/ drinking and run her off. These strategies may not stop the bullying but should give Lavender some relief.

Our run is 72 sq ft, and the henhouse is 24 sq ft. We are looking into getting a covered tractor for them to have more space outside the runner. We have 1 big feeder that I have turned into the center of the runner that provides some cover on the backside, and 2 other smaller feeders that they used as chicks. We have 8 individual cups for water, and I have 1 other water that they also used when they were chicks. No. We did not have much in there for them (fixed some of that today). We have a roosting bar on one side of the runner. I have an old plastic milk crate in there now, and I used the plastic bottom of an old kennel leaned against the wall that lavender likes to hang around to make a tunnel. I am going to be adding smaller, higher-up perches for them tomorrow, hopefully. We got 2 puzzle toys and 2 of those veggie hanging thingies as well.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Our run is 72 sq ft, and the henhouse is 24 sq ft. We are looking into getting a covered tractor for them to have more space outside the runner. We have 1 big feeder that I have turned into the center of the runner that provides some cover on the backside, and 2 other smaller feeders that they used as chicks. We have 8 individual cups for water, and I have 1 other water that they also used when they were chicks. No. We did not have much in there for them (fixed some of that today). We have a roosting bar on one side of the runner. I have an old plastic milk crate in there now, and I used the plastic bottom of an old kennel leaned against the wall that lavender likes to hang around to make a tunnel. I am going to be adding smaller, higher-up perches for them tomorrow, hopefully. We got 2 puzzle toys and 2 of those veggie hanging thingies as well.

Toys are cute but you need maybe a couple more pieces of larger clutter, the point is to break line of sight in the space so the bullied bird gets relief. Examples can be found here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/page-6#post-25037140

With multiple feeders, make sure they're spread out and also at least partially behind clutter so that birds can't see where everyone else is eating at all times.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

You don't say how long you crated Sunshine, or what you crated her in (unless I missed it). A good-sized wire dog crate is what I used when we had this problem and honestly, it made a world of difference. We crated our mean girl on the floor of the hen house (it's an 8x10 walk-in) at night and in a shady spot in the run by day. Of course she had food, water, grit and OS and a 2x4 to perch on. We did this for 3 days and nights then turned her out. Oops! Too soon, she went right back to bullying everybody. So 3 more days/ nights. Then, wonder of wonders. Bad girl had gone in the jail, nice girl came out. Problem solved. I did not feel bad about it. I felt she had brought it upon herself and if she didn't behave a worse fate awaited her. My family loves my chicken dumpling soup.

 

[thecatumbrella]

You don't say how long you crated Sunshine, or what you crated her in (unless I missed it). A good-sized wire dog crate is what I used when we had this problem and honestly, it made a world of difference. We crated our mean girl on the floor of the hen house (it's an 8x10 walk-in) at night and in a shady spot in the run by day. Of course she had food, water, grit and OS and a 2x4 to perch on. We did this for 3 days and nights then turned her out. Oops! Too soon, she went right back to bullying everybody. So 3 more days/ nights. Then, wonder of wonders. Bad girl had gone in the jail, nice girl came out. Problem solved. I did not feel bad about it. I felt she had brought it upon herself and if she didn't behave a worse fate awaited her. My family loves my chicken dumpling soup.

I'm going to try a dog crate the next time I need to separate someone. We've been using a 6'x9' section next to the main pen, and I'm wondering if it's too spacious to really "learn a lesson". It's more like an apartment than jail!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I'm going to try a dog crate the next time I need to separate someone. We've been using a 6'x9' section next to the main pen, and I'm wondering if it's too spacious to really "learn a lesson". It's more like an apartment than jail!

NOt sure if size matters in this case, just so she's separated from her target(s) and can't engage in the bullying behavior.

 

[RootedTogetherHomestead]

[

Toys are cute but you need maybe a couple more pieces of larger clutter, the point is to break line of sight in the space so the bullied bird gets relief. Examples can be found here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/page-6#post-25037140

With multiple feeders, make sure they're spread out and also at least partially behind clutter so that birds can't see where everyone else is eating at all times.

Thanks for the examples. We are thinking of putting a partition made of plywood in the middle of the area underneath their henhouse, and I am sorting through old furniture to see what I can put out there.

 

[RootedTogetherHomestead]

You don't say how long you crated Sunshine, or what you crated her in (unless I missed it). A good-sized wire dog crate is what I used when we had this problem and honestly, it made a world of difference. We crated our mean girl on the floor of the hen house (it's an 8x10 walk-in) at night and in a shady spot in the run by day. Of course she had food, water, grit and OS and a 2x4 to perch on. We did this for 3 days and nights then turned her out. Oops! Too soon, she went right back to bullying everybody. So 3 more days/ nights. Then, wonder of wonders. Bad girl had gone in the jail, nice girl came out. Problem solved. I did not feel bad about it. I felt she had brought it upon herself and if she didn't behave a worse fate awaited her. My family loves my chicken dumpling soup.

That is what we used, a wire dog crate. We had her in crated in the large dog wire crate with food/water since Sunday in the runner. I did not let her sleep in the crate in the runner. I let her roost in the henhouse with everyone else. I did let her out early Mon/Tues because it was extremely hot here, and wanted her to have access to the ice foot bath. She was in it all day yesterday, and so far, she's not bullied Lavender. She's chased her a few times, but doesn't just constantly go after Lavender. They were actually standing by one another, and Lavender didn't immediately dart away. Watching carefully, if she starts it again.. Back she goes, and I will keep her in all day with no early release for 4 days since the weather isn't supposed to be super hot.