Separate the bully or the bullied?

[Exning]

Thought I would update on our chickens. After two days of separating Chuck, Dorito actually stopped attacking. We also added more entertainment and there hasnt been any real fights since

 

[sbhkma]

Great news! So happy for you AND your flock.

 

[Exning]

Hi im back! Its started up again. Chuck nips at Mardigan and then Dorito full blown attacks. Chucks scared to death now and doesnt stop making scared noises even when Doritos just around the area. I feel like Chuck has been the instigator and Doritos just protecting Mardigan but I am no chicken psychologist

 

[Bean789]

Our chicks/hens are 23 weeks old and none have started laying as yet.

My granddaughter's pet chicken, Coconut, is a Sultan. Every time anyone holds her and then puts her down again, a Buff Brahma bantam, Bavis, attacks her. Other times, she just goes after her for no reason that we can deduce. Bavis will run across the chicken yard to get at her sometimes when Coconut is doing nothing more than scratching through the pine needles/leaves we may have thrown in. Coconut has not gotten bloody from any of the attacks yet, but it may happen sooner or later. She is not the only one who is pecked by Bavis, just the one she goes after every time. Bavis is about half-mast in the pecking order of 8 so it isn't like she is top chick. Sometimes, my Blue (really a black though) orpington, Sephira, will 'protect' Coconut and intervene be she is also a little intimidated by Bavis as well.

Bavis is held and 'loved' just as much as the other hens in our flock so it shouldn't be a jealousy issue, if that is a possibility.

Should I separate Bavis for a few days and then re-introduce her to the flock or ?????

 

[Fancypants1]

I would put the bully alone for at least a week - somewhere that she can not see or hear the others. After about a week she should be knocked down a peg or two and stop pecking. I know keeping one isolated is more work but it worked for us.

Good Luck!

 

[mainechicklet]

My big bully is recovering from a hard molt which started at the beginning of an extremely cold Maine January. She is not laying, but is bullying everyone else out of the nesting boxes, to the point of them all laying way under the coop. And she's really bullying a bantam silkie/polish mix who is now afraid to eat or drink or try to approach the nesting boxes. The S-P mix has decided that I'll protect her and waits for me to feed/water/hold her. I tried to bring the bully inside during her 50% feather loss and she went crazy, so I returned her to the coop. I hate to bring in the bullied hen. I'm wondering if the bully is still 'molt affected" and will get over this hateful behavior. It's very annoying to me and very traumatic to those in her pathway.

 

[crazychick26201]

Molting does change their personality. Also, if they are not laying for a while, my hens get mean, like their hormones are messed up or something. I try to keep my hens busy with a hanging cabbage, treat ball , or dish of chopped kale about midday when the weather is bad. Keeps them distracted. I have also had success staying out there with them and shaking a coffee can with pebbles in it really loud if my bully hen goes for one of the others. The sound startles her and she quits. I also play the rooster and intervene by chasing my bully off if she goes for my littler hen. When I pick up a hen the others will peck her on the head when I put her down because they are jealous. This bullying issue also crops up when one of my four Buffs is broody. They all go for the broody hen. I wonder if there would be less issues if I had a rooster. I have heard a rooster will keep the hens in line and solve disputes. I have isolated the bully one time because I have a chicken tractor in addition to the regular coop. They have to be kept out of sight of the others to reduce their place in the pecking order. It took about two weeks. I put her back in after one week. And she went for the same chicken again, so out she went for another little while. Eventually I broke her, but it took persistence. Who knew that having chickens would be so dramatic? Just like being in middle school again.

 

[Pyrex]

That's called pecking order, they do this to establish dominance over others, creating a hierarchy. I heard they stop doing it after the hierarchy is established already, but the bullied usually lose too many feathers until then. One of my birds was bullie, her right wing has two or three feathers missing due to this, and she bled a bit from her wing. I separated her from the others, she's now fine.

This reminds me, if you want a bird that is injured to be dominant, that is, getting to eat first and such, when you are near your chickens you can lightly beat the other chickens with your finger when they get near the injured bird, this should make them "respect" the bird more. I haven't been doing this for too long though, so not sure how well it works.

 

[Mrs. K]

Who knew that having chickens would be so dramatic? Just like being in middle school again.

I teach middle school, and YESTERDAY we had some new girls come into our small school, and there was posturing, gossiping, and being mean, and I told them they were acting like chickens. haha

 

[mainechicklet]

That's called pecking order, they do this to establish dominance over others, creating a hierarchy. I heard they stop doing it after the hierarchy is established already, but the bullied usually lose too many feathers until then. One of my birds was bullie, her right wing has two or three feathers missing due to this, and she bled a bit from her wing. I separated her from the others, she's now fine.

This reminds me, if you want a bird that is injured to be dominant, that is, getting to eat first and such, when you are near your chickens you can lightly beat the other chickens with your finger when they get near the injured bird, this should make them "respect" the bird more. I haven't been doing this for too long though, so not sure how well it works.

These girls lived together at a hoarder's farm but have been with me for nine months. The pecking order should be well established by now. They have 20 sq ft run space plus 4 sq ft coop space per hen and half of them are bantams. So they're not overly crowded. I give them hanging cabbages, melons, bales of hay, kale, spinach, you name it. Just to keep them occupied. I'm with them multiple times throughout the day, cleaning up poop and observing for behavior or medical issues. It takes them over an hour to get situated for the night, several constantly chasing the others out, all roosts are at equal height. Ultimately 4-5 will roost in the run and after dark I place them in the coop.

Meanwhile my other group of hens, 4 of whom came from the same hoarder, are sweet and kind to each other. They take a minute to find their nighttime places, cuddle together for warmth and wait patiently for me to let them out in the am. If a nesting box is occupied, they move on to an empty one. No issues.

I do not want a rooster. I don't want the noise, the attitude or fertilized eggs. But primarily, several of these hens arrived so tattered from rooster activity, they barely look like the same hen now with their feathers grown back in.

This constant cattiness drives me crazy!