Talk to me about Chicken Jail and Pinless Peepers...I have a bully in the flock...need help.........

[countrycakelady]

Okay, so I have been doing a little 'flock watching'...actually a lot....I have found my bully in my flock...she has injured my Golden Comet....the said injured bird is by herself in a private house....she gets outside time before the rest of the group does...about a 3 hour window....yesterday afternoon...when it was time for them to come out all together....my dd and I watched closely as everyone did their things....scratching....chasing insects...doing the things that chickens do......well after a good while, several hours later, the said bully came back to the coop/pen area to get some water.....she looked at the injured one...then ran her in to the coop and out the coop...trying to get her again.......NOBODY else was doing this, just this one.....the others were not paying them any mind..

I need information on chicken jail time..... how long? Does the bully get time in the yard alone? Solitary confinement only? I am new to this...I will also be looking into the Pinless Peepers...do they work? I have a flock of 14 total, no roosters! All the others yesterday were not doing anything to my injured bird, she has healed up a lot....only this one...she likes to be the boss, of everyone, it is looking like...time for her to go to jail? Thank you for any advice or information you can give...they all have been raised from 1 week old together, are now 18 weeks old.....no problems until now....

 

[sumi]

I would remove the bully from the flock and keep her isolated for at least a week before reintroducing her. This should bump her down the pecking order a bit and hopefully stop her bullying behaviour.

Pinless peepers is something I learned about here, though I haven't tried it myself, I believe they can be quite effective. Here's a thread on the topic:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/144815/pinless-peeper-poultry-blinders

Best of luck and hope you get this hen sorted out. Otherwise I'm afraid the only option may be to find her a new home.

 

[donrae]

If the comet is still showing signs of injury or illness, it's the head hen's job to keep her from the flock. An ill or injured bird invites predator attention. Sounds like she's just doing her job. You need to keep the injured bird away from the flock until she's healed, then try putting her back in. And yes, she'll probably be at the bottom and either prove herself worthy of always be the omega and get picked on. That's just how chicken society goes, they're not nice and sweet like humans are