Resetting my pecking order

[TheSpiceGirls]

I've read that if you have a hen who's a bully, that if you separate her for 5-7 days from the flock and then re-introduce her that you can move her to the bottom of the pecking order.

But will this work if you only have three hens?

My EE has always been a tad "off". I think she may not see well or perhaps doesn't hear well. She's as skittish as can be. And she pecks at my BO and won't let her eat. It's driving me nuts because then the BO goes off and stands in the corner and it's just the saddest thing to watch.

I've tried a number of different things including not giving the EE treats, blocking her from eating treats, holding her down when I see the bad behavior and spritzing her with water when she pecks. All of these have had good results for several days and then the bad behavior returns.

I've purchased pinless peepers and I'm trying to decide if I go that route or do I isolate her for a week and see if that does anything. My fear is after all the work of separating her, she'll come back to her old ways.

 

[buckabucka]

I've never had to do that, so I'm not sure if it works with 3 hens, but I don't see why not. You could always try it, and if things go back to where they were, you didn't really lose anything. The hen that's lowest on the pecking order will always get picked on somewhat though, - last to eat, etc. It is hard to watch, but that's just the way chickens are.

I have pinless peepers on 2 of my hens. They were pulling and eating all the feathers off the others, and the peepers did put an end to that.
Good luck!

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

Quote:
Thanks. I think I'll give the pinless peeper a try. I tried to get it on her this morning but I really need someone to hold her and DH was still asleep. And I'd like to put it on her and then watch her to make sure she can still eat and drink and is okay with it.

 

[cobrien]

I just did the chicken jail thing with one of mine who lives with 2 others and it worked. Actually she usually lives with 1 other chicken, but when I put her back after 5 days the she was still bullying. She went back to jail for a week and the next time I added a docile hen in from my other flock. This docile hen from the other flock is perceived by the other two as higher on the pecking order, so having her there made it seem like the bottom hen who was getting picked on had a buddy. Kind of like a security guard

Now they are living in peace!

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

Quote:
That's awesome. I wish I had one more. If the BO had a buddy, I wouldn't feel so bad for her. I think I'm going to try the pinless peeper tonight and see what that does.

Putting her in "jail" is going to be a lot of work on my part and I really don't have that kind of time to spare right now.