"Snuggling" at Roost Time - Causing Aggressive Pecking

[MarcyG]

My 1 yr old Americana ("Maple") is lowest in the pecking order of my small flock of 5. I noticed many of her top/back feathers are broken and she looks very scruffy, compared to the others. She is not molting at this time.

I checked for mites, lice and even took her to my vet. She was clean. I noticed out of all my hens, Maple is the only one who likes to burrow underneath and 'snuggle' below another hen's front feathers (maybe this is a carry-over from baby chick behavior with her Mama) ? The others in the flock do *not* like this snuggle action from her, and they end up pecking at her and/or knocking her off the roost. I put our critter-cam inside the roosting coop, and sure enough, I saw it happen, and it goes on every night! Ugh! :-( Very likely it could be what is causing her broken feathers. Photos attached.

Any advice on how to prevent this (if it is preventable)? I'm afraid her back feathers won't grow back in properly if she continues this behavior. I was thinking of separating my older hens (the ones who are pecking Maple)...but I cannot really blame them, as they do not like this behavior from Maple. Thank you in advance, for any feedback and/or advice!

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

This is completely normal. A hen saddle (aka hen saver) will help completely. I had to use mine for my Buff Brahma. The behavior you're seeing, you're misreading. She's "snuggling" to protect herself. Whenever a hen is getting pecked, their first defense is to hide their head. So, to hide her head, she's trying to hide it under them, and maybe they'll leave her alone. This obviously isn't pleasing your other hens, so that's why they peck her till she gets off. This should eventually rub away, but what my SS, Jewels, does, she actually got herself a new perch, and won't roost with the others. Maybe giving the option for her to roost somewhere else in the coop? No need to remove her from the flock, unless you are seeing something dangerously bad.

 

[MarcyG]

This is completely normal. A hen saddle (aka hen saver) will help completely. I had to use mine for my Buff Brahma. The behavior you're seeing, you're misreading. She's "snuggling" to protect herself. Whenever a hen is getting pecked, their first defense is to hide their head. So, to hide her head, she's trying to hide it under them, and maybe they'll leave her alone. This obviously isn't pleasing your other hens, so that's why they peck her till she gets off. This should eventually rub away, but what my SS, Jewels, does, she actually got herself a new perch, and won't roost with the others. Maybe giving the option for her to roost somewhere else in the coop? No need to remove her from the flock, unless you are seeing something dangerously bad.

Thank you, Lacy. Your feedback is great - and makes really good sense. I'll probably get her a chicken 'saddle' jacket - so at the very least it protects her back/side feathers and may deter the picking by others.
I've tried moving her to the 2nd roost, but she always jumps off that and wants to be with the big/older girls. Go figure!

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Thank you, Lacy. Your feedback is great - and makes really good sense. I'll probably get her a chicken 'saddle' jacket - so at the very least it protects her back/side feathers and may deter the picking by others.
I've tried moving her to the 2nd roost, but she always jumps off that and wants to be with the big/older girls. Go figure!

Happy to have been able to help.

 

[Livinthedozierdream]

My 1 yr old Americana ("Maple") is lowest in the pecking order of my small flock of 5. I noticed many of her top/back feathers are broken and she looks very scruffy, compared to the others. She is not molting at this time.

I checked for mites, lice and even took her to my vet. She was clean. I noticed out of all my hens, Maple is the only one who likes to burrow underneath and 'snuggle' below another hen's front feathers (maybe this is a carry-over from baby chick behavior with her Mama) ? The others in the flock do *not* like this snuggle action from her, and they end up pecking at her and/or knocking her off the roost. I put our critter-cam inside the roosting coop, and sure enough, I saw it happen, and it goes on every night! Ugh! :-( Very likely it could be what is causing her broken feathers. Photos attached.

Any advice on how to prevent this (if it is preventable)? I'm afraid her back feathers won't grow back in properly if she continues this behavior. I was thinking of separating my older hens (the ones who are pecking Maple)...but I cannot really blame them, as they do not like this behavior from Maple. Thank you in advance, for any feedback and/or advice!

My two Americaunas are doing the exact same thing and since it’s gotten colder I guess they’ve all been closer at night and they are getting bald spots now like yours! my two are at the bottom of the pecking order which doesn’t help either.

 

[MarcyG]

My two Americaunas are doing the exact same thing and since it’s gotten colder I guess they’ve all been closer at night and they are getting bald spots now like yours! my two are at the bottom of the pecking order which doesn’t help either.

Yup. It's hard to see the ones at the 'bottom' of the pecking order getting hassled so much. My girl Maple still likes to 'burrow' under the chests of the bigger girls, and the bigger girls simply do not like that, thus Maple is the easy target. :-(

 

[Livinthedozierdream]

Yup. It's hard to see the ones at the 'bottom' of the pecking order getting hassled so much. My girl Maple still likes to 'burrow' under the chests of the bigger girls, and the bigger girls simply do not like that, thus Maple is the easy target. :-(

Ugh for sure. Like exact same thing with our Chloe and Chippie but it’s worse with Chloe. Maple is a great name. Poor sweet things oh well. Chickens are savage, I guess. It’s just their normal I suppose. Thanks for sharing including your photos. I don’t have a camera in our coop…yet. But I’ve seen mine when closing them up in the evening doing the exact same thing. It’s nice to know they aren’t alone or weird. It’s funny they happen to all be Americaunas and also the lowest in the pecking order.