Sudden bullying of single hen

[Icehen99]

My hen Goldie is suddenly being targeted by 2 hens in my flock of 4 . I really feel bad for her and found her hiding underneath our nesting boxes and running away from even the single neutral feeling hen . I have tried to isolate the two bullies a in a dog crate within the run and I’ve let them out to go lay their eggs and they immediately pick on Goldie .

Goldie doesn’t have any bleeding etc. but I’m worried that will come next . She hasn’t shown any signs of sickness but just hasn’t laid an egg in a long time . I’m not sure what else to do and I’m thinking about selling Goldie to a better home where she isn’t singled out

 

[Mrs. K]

Personally, that is what I would do. I hate discord in the flock, it just destroys the pleasure of having chickens for me.

How old are your birds? How big of space? Those can be issues.

Pin less peepers can also help in small flocks. Worth a shot.

Mrs K

 

[Icehen99]

Personally, that is what I would do. I hate discord in the flock, it just destroys the pleasure of having chickens for me.

How old are your birds? How big of space? Those can be issues.

Pin less peepers can also help in small flocks. Worth a shot.

Mrs K

In April will make a full year I’ve had these ladies . They have a 4 foot x 6 foot shed as a chicken coop with 2 nesting boxes and a 60 sq foot run for 4 mid size hens . They were all hatched around the same time . I feel bad for bullying but I’m trying to be practical about it because it’s been a pain to deal with

 

[Mrs. K]

If you have someone to take her, do so. Or if you could section off part of the run and coop. So she is with them, but protected from them. After several months, a respected poster on here has had very good luck with that.

I swear, they get that victim attitude, and it eggs on the bullies. Being separated but with them, gets them more confident.

try the pin less peepers on the bullies.

I hate when this happens.
Mrs K

 

[JeremyCarlsten]

The fact that Goldie hasn't been laying might actually be part of what's triggering this. I've noticed that when a hen stops producing, sometimes the other birds seem to "know" and she drops in the pecking order fast. It's like they can sense she's off somehow.

Before rehoming her, one thing that's worked for me is the opposite approach — instead of isolating the bullies temporarily, I remove Goldie for about a week to let her destress and recover her confidence, then reintroduce her. When you put the bullies in a crate for a few hours, they come out ticked off and go right back to it. But when the target bird leaves and comes back, it can sometimes reset things.

That said, with only 60 sq ft of run for 4 birds, space is tight. That's about 15 sq ft per bird — not terrible, but when there's tension it doesn't leave much room for the bottom bird to get away. If you can add any visual barriers in the run — a leaning pallet, some branches, anything to break sight lines — it can help a lot. Multiple feed/water stations too, so Goldie doesn't have to go near the bullies to eat.

If none of that works, rehoming her to a bigger flock where she can blend in isn't a bad call. Sometimes a fresh start is the kindest option.