They are all picking on my favorite chicken! Help..!!

[Beastmomma82]

I am in serious need of a bit of guidance. For some reason all my chickens pick on my smaller polish hen. Her name is Bob ross.. she's a super sweet, very kind and curious chicken. She hangs out with me more then the others and for some reason lately they keep picking on her They sometimes won't let her get to the food or treats. They seem to charge her and suddenly rip feathers out for no reason. She'll be across the yard minding her own when it happens. Then at night its almost impossible for her to get into the coop. They stand at the door and grab her when she tries to get in! Please help..i don't want my little buddy to die on me..i don't know what to do :'(...

 

[TheMother]

I'm so sorry you're dealing with this. It really is maddening and confusing cause our human perception can't understand why they do that! I saw a documentary on wolves once and they were studying how the lead wolf chooses which elk or bison they'll take down. To the human eye it was almost undetectable but the wolf was able to detect a minor fracture or injury or infection that made the animal just weaker enough than the others, for them to have a successful kill. Maybe chickens are like that... who knows... but I separated my really mean bully chicken and once I did that, the others stopped picking. I let her out of jail after 3 days and there have been no problems. Maybe you can lock up the meanest one and see if it changed things up.

 

[aart]

Her name is Bob ross

That special hairdo might be the problem.
They look funny and can't see well.
Do you have other floppy topped birds?
Did she grow up with the other birds....or added later??

 

[Beastmomma82]

That special hairdo might be the problem.
They look funny and can't see well.
Do you have other floppy topped birds?
Did she grow up with the other birds....or added later??

They all grew up together.. our roo is a polish too. But they are the only two.. the ones that keep picking on her are speckled Sussex...so maybe they don't like her dolly pardon doo?..

 

[Beastmomma82]

I'm so sorry you're dealing with this. It really is maddening and confusing cause our human perception can't understand why they do that! I saw a documentary on wolves once and they were studying how the lead wolf chooses which elk or bison they'll take down. To the human eye it was almost undetectable but the wolf was able to detect a minor fracture or injury or infection that made the animal just weaker enough than the others, for them to have a successful kill. Maybe chickens are like that... who knows... but I separated my really mean bully chicken and once I did that, the others stopped picking. I let her out of jail after 3 days and there have been no problems. Maybe you can lock up the meanest one and see if it changed things up.

I will definitely give this a try..!! Thank you. And also give Bob a thorough once over to make sure nothing is wrong. This makes sense.. just didn't think about that!..

 

[HenSolo84]

I'm so sorry you're dealing with this. It really is maddening and confusing cause our human perception can't understand why they do that! I saw a documentary on wolves once and they were studying how the lead wolf chooses which elk or bison they'll take down. To the human eye it was almost undetectable but the wolf was able to detect a minor fracture or injury or infection that made the animal just weaker enough than the others, for them to have a successful kill. Maybe chickens are like that... who knows... but I separated my really mean bully chicken and once I did that, the others stopped picking. I let her out of jail after 3 days and there have been no problems. Maybe you can lock up the meanest one and see if it changed things up.

I'm going to try this. We have a blue australorp whom we kept putting in chicken jail for broodiness and when we let her out, 3 others hunt her down and attack her. I just moved her out to our tiny coop but maybe I should lock up Turkey (blue wyandotte who has always been the most docile and stand-offish) who is hunting her down. My 2 easter eggers are going after her, too.

 

[TheMother]

I'm going to try this. We have a blue australorp whom we kept putting in chicken jail for broodiness and when we let her out, 3 others hunt her down and attack her. I just moved her out to our tiny coop but maybe I should lock up Turkey (blue wyandotte who has always been the most docile and stand-offish) who is hunting her down. My 2 easter eggers are going after her, too.

I hope it works for you so that you can get some peace of mind ! It's interesting but we locked her up and once we let her not only did the pecking order shift to where she was now 3rd, but they stopped the bullying altogether. Let me know if it works for yours, if you remember to!

 

[janmaree]

I want to try this one one of my chooks who is bullying another. Do you Shut the bully up so she can’t see the others?