Stop Pullets from terrorizing Cockerels?

[Luckieyes]

We have thirty four chickens, all 10 weeks old and various brown egg laying breeds. Our two cockerels are buff brahmas, and have been much slower to develop than all the other breeds. I'm not sure if this is normal, but they still have fairly bald/fuzzy backs while all our girls are fully feathered.

The pullets have been picking on the two boys. They managed to peck quarter sized chunks out of their bald backends. I doesn't appeae to be one specific bully, maybe 10-15 of them who follow them around pecking their backs.

We had them separated in a pen within our coop for a week to heal, and reintroduced them yesterday. All was well and fine at first, they roosted in their usual spots overnight and were good for about 2 hours in the morning before they were pecked at again.

I have been reading some other threads on bullying and reintroducing them, most seem to be squabbles between hens. I'm planning to try the squirt bottle. I just still have a few questions and looking for advice.

Is it normal for the cockerels on the bottom of the pecking order?

Should I keep them separated until they finish feathering out, will that help?

Will they become more dominant within the pecking order?

 

[Flockincrazy]

We have thirty four chickens, all 10 weeks old and various brown egg laying breeds. Our two cockerels are buff brahmas, and have been much slower to develop than all the other breeds. I'm not sure if this is normal, but they still have fairly bald/fuzzy backs while all our girls are fully feathered.

The pullets have been picking on the two boys. They managed to peck quarter sized chunks out of their bald backends. I doesn't appeae to be one specific bully, maybe 10-15 of them who follow them around pecking their backs.

We had them separated in a pen within our coop for a week to heal, and reintroduced them yesterday. All was well and fine at first, they roosted in their usual spots overnight and were good for about 2 hours in the morning before they were pecked at again.

I have been reading some other threads on bullying and reintroducing them, most seem to be squabbles between hens. I'm planning to try the squirt bottle. I just still have a few questions and looking for advice.

Is it normal for the cockerels on the bottom of the pecking order?

Should I keep them separated until they finish feathering out, will that help?

Will they become more dominant within the pecking order?

They will keep on till the roo's fight back you may want to separate them till they feather out if they are really getting hurt bad but try the squirt bottle before you separate them from the flock

 

[Lobo123]

I've never dealt with buff brahams so I don't know the rate at which they develop and mature or their personality.

Provide enough space for the chickens, with multiple water trays and feeders. If you want, you can separate them until they develop their feathers. I think the most important factor here is space, so the cockerels can escape if they are being pecked at.

Your cockerels will eventually develop and began taking their rooster duties. It's not uncommon for a young cockerel to be below the pecking order especially if they haven't even reached puberty yet.

 

[aart]

Should I keep them separated until they finish feathering out, will that help?

Maybe, but, first...
Pecking/bullying came become a habit, but why it happens to begin with needs to be solved. Doesn't have much to do with gender at that age, but could have to do with the slower feathering in those males(which could be a poor breeding issue) at 10 weeks they should be fully feathered. I had a male once about that age that had a blood feather pecked open, they wouldn't leave it alone until I plucked the bleeding feather.

How much space do they have, in feet by feet?
Dimensions and pics would help immensely here.

What all and how exactly are you feeding them?

Oh, and.... Welcome to BYC! @Luckieyes
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Is it normal for the cockerels on the bottom of the pecking order?

Normal as in always? No. But it is not that unusual either. Different individuals of the same breed mature at different rates. Brahma's are known to often be slow to mature. Pullets can be brutes and bullies. In a flock of pullets and cockerels it is not that unusual for the boys to be fairly low in the pecking order.

Will they become more dominant within the pecking order?

In the normal course of events a cockerel will eventually mature enough to become the flock master. Often you will see that by 4 months of age in a flock where they are all the same age. But sometimes that can take months longer. A lot depends on the personality of the cockerel and the personality of the more dominant female(s). People tend to forget that the girls have a part to play in flock dynamics too. Each flock is different and has its own dynamics. Sometimes the transition of a cockerel taking over as flock master is pretty peaceful. Sometimes it can be really violent and hard to watch.

Should I keep them separated until they finish feathering out, will that help?

Maybe, though I suspect the benefit would be more of allowing them to mature a bit more. If they are being injured then you should keep them separated but allow them to see each other. I'll also ask how much room you have, in feet or meters. Often but not always this type of behavior is worse when they are crowded together. A better solution may be to give them more room. 34 chickens is a lot.

 

[Mrs. K]

Does your run look like a wide open rectangle? Can a bird see every other bird from any position in the run? So many runs on here look like that. Add some clutter, add pallets, lean them up against the wall, put them up on blocks so birds can get under and on top of them. Add a ladder or roosts, add mini walls out of small pieces of plywood or card board, add totes on the laid on the sides. Stack up some straw bails.

More clutter is better, all of these will allow birds to disappear. This allows the birds to solve the problems. Add multiple feed stations set up so that a bird eating at one station cannot see a bird eating at another station.

This allows birds to escape, to get out of reach and out of sight of other birds. This allows lower order birds to escape and get out of reach of more aggressive birds.

Mrs K