Silkie being bullied

[babsi]

I think I need some popular opinions and wisdom from those who have had a similar experience. I have two Easter Eggers, one Barnevelder and one Silkie. I was told they would all live happily ever after. Ha. The B has decided to make it her mission in life to bully and pick on the Silkie. This after being together for 8 happy months. The one EE was the head hen and the Sikie was her buddy. Today I saw her picking on her as well. The Silkie is happy when she's out roaming around by herself, submissive and running away from the attackers in the run. At night in the coop the world makes sense again. Clearly the Silkie is not in the best living arrangement. At this time I have the following options and could use some advise.

1. I let the Barnevelder go...not into traffic, but another home

2.I let the Silkie go...ugh, she's my favorite calm chick

3.I let all three big chickens go and get some more Silkies to live with mine.

4.I try and make another coop for the Silkie out of old remains from a wooden playset we have in the yard. More work, more work...I have fibromyalgia and wonder if that is really the best solution.

Any input would be appreciated!!!!!

 

[Ozarkhomesteader]

Well, in such a small flock, nothing serious will happen to her, so she isn't in danger of being killed. Sadly, in any flock, there is always the lowest bird in the coop. Basically the way the pecking order works is it starts with the top hen and she can peck everyone and no one can peck her. Then there is the next bird, she can peck everyone but the top hen, and the line continues down till you get to the last hen, and she can get pecked by all the other birds, but she can't peck anyone else. Sad to be her, but someone has to be that one

I know i had a little rooster bantam that i rescued with a group of others, and he was bullied by every one and he was so small. Basically i have a flock of like 40 birds, so that was a lot of birds being mean to him. He was my favorite, so i ended up bringing him into the house and stuck a diaper on him and he became a house chicken. He was actually terrified of the chickens, and if i brought him out with me he would just fly to my shoulder and stare at them. Silly boy. That was my solution, though others in the house weren't please about a chicken in the house.

This is just my experience with a similar problem, hope it helps somehow

 

[Serenity06]

If it were me personally I would either let the big chickens go, or build a second coop and get some bantam friends for the silkie. I had a problem like this with a Polish. The chickens she was raised with started bullying her, and I built a small coop and run that I was gonna put her in along with my 2 silkies. But sadly, before I got finished she got sick and had to be put down. I also had a couple roosters start being mean to my silkie roo so I gave them away. I wouldn't give away the silkie because they are so sweet, but if you want plenty of eggs it wouldn't be wise to give away all your main egg layers.

 

[babsi]

I love the diaper idea! If I didn't have a small dog and extremely agile cat, I would do that!!

 

[babsi]

I was considering that as well.. do I want my blue, green and brown eggs or do I want a chicken that is sweet. Do you have any idea if adding about 4-5 Silkies to my silkie (and letting the others go) would cause drama?

 

[Ozarkhomesteader]

I love the diaper idea! If I didn't have a small dog and extremely agile cat, I would do that!!

Thanks!! I think you are officially the first person who hasn't thought i am nuts for doing it

Haha, he was a rooster, and for some reason he was more confident around the dogs (2 big 1 small) than around chickens...weird little guy.

He even slept on my bed with me and the little dog at night.

 

[Serenity06]

Initially while they established pecking order, but in a flock of silkies I don't think there's going to be bullying.

 

[Serenity06]

Thanks!! I think you are officially the first person who hasn't thought i am nuts for doing it  

Haha, he was a rooster, and for some reason he was more confident around the dogs (2 big 1 small) than around chickens...weird little guy.   He even slept on my bed with me and the little dog at night. 

LOL! What kind was he?

 

[Ozarkhomesteader]

I was considering that as well.. do I want my blue, green and brown eggs or do I want a chicken that is sweet. Do you have any idea if adding about 4-5 Silkies to my silkie (and letting the others go) would cause drama?

yeah, that's not a bad idea. When you first introduce them to each other, there will be some fighting until they get their pecking order sorted out...that is inevitable. Once they figure it out, things should smooth out. and being the size and breed similarities, the lowest ranked bird will not be picked on like it was when she was the only odd ball.

 

[Ozarkhomesteader]

LOL! What kind was he?

I'm not totally sure, but i think he was some sort of jungle fowl or gamebird mix. Bantam sized though, so he was like 2 pounds of adorableness.

This is him at petco. He liked the beds