Topic of the Week - Chicken Behaviour and Flock Dynamics Part 2 - Bullying Behaviour

[Doodlemom63]

I have a small flock, 9 hens and 1 roo. Only 1 hen is laying so far (still young), and they all get along great during the day... That being said, at night it is hell for my Orpington. No one wants to roost next to her, and one of my hens doesn't let anyone roost next to her unless it is 2 specific hens (her besties I guess?). But if any other hen is next to her, she goes for their feet and pecks at them until they move or get down, leaving her a good 3 - 4 feet of space to herself while the others crowd! I go in at night while they are settling and have to place the Orpington somewhere on the roost... Is this normal? The culprit is for sure the top hen as well.

Oh Lordy I’m following

 

[BDutch]

I have a small flock, 9 hens and 1 roo. Only 1 hen is laying so far (still young), and they all get along great during the day... That being said, at night it is hell for my Orpington. No one wants to roost next to her, and one of my hens doesn't let anyone roost next to her unless it is 2 specific hens (her besties I guess?). But if any other hen is next to her, she goes for their feet and pecks at them until they move or get down, leaving her a good 3 - 4 feet of space to herself while the others crowd! I go in at night while they are settling and have to place the Orpington somewhere on the roost... Is this normal? The culprit is for sure the top hen as well.

Intolerant behaviour at roost time happens more often. Can you add another roost and some-kind of a divider so some of the chickens don’t see each other? This might help. Or add another coop?

I had a young hen that had been harassed at roost time. She started to sleep alone in a tiny coop away from the others. Problem solved.
I had more periods with bullying behaviour.
Now I have two 1m2 (10sqft) coops for my bantams. They can all choose where they sleep. Most nights these coops are both occupied with 4 hens.

 

[EggFarm65]

Off with their heads! Eat them!

Well that's one method of managing a bully in the flock. I don't handle it that way myself, but it's definitely an option.

Another option is to rehome, but making it someone else's problem seems like a kind of cop-out, but it's a definitely an option. Except in flocks such as mine where a contagious avian virus is present - you certainly don't want to be spreading that around to other flocks.

What I do is to utilize a "jail" within the run. Either the bully or the victim spend time incarcerated to prevent direct contact, yet they are still in full view of the flock. This gets tricky when the bully happens to be laying. I need to keep an eye on her to pick up signs she needs access to a nest. The best thing is to trade off by letting the bully and victim take turns in jail.

I'm currently addressing this problem in my flock. A two-year old Cream Legbar has turned into a veritable terrorist. She is terrorizing nearly everyone, launching herself at anyone younger, but her main target is a six-year old Speckled Sussex. The consequences of constant bullying has resulted in appetite and subsequent weight loss in this older hen.

When this happens, things have become serious and intervention is absolutely necessary. This victim has lost all self confidence and has been spending her days hiding in the coop, not daring to try to approach the feeder for fear of being ambushed.

I first learned the value of giving a chronic victim a "vacation" from her tormentor years ago. After two or three weeks of spending daytime in jail, her self confidence was restored and she was able to stand up for herself from then on. The transformation was that stunning. This also serves to interrupt the bullying behavior, and many times, it can reform the bully

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Much to many a new chicken owner's surprise, chickens can be quite mean! Often aggression and minor incidents in the flock are due to them establishing or reminding other birds of the pecking order, or roosters fighting for the top spot. But sometimes you'd get a bully or two in the flock that is just unnecessarily mean, making life for their victims a misery.

This week I'd like to hear your thoughts and practices when it comes to dealing with bullies in the flock. How do you handle them and what advice would you give to others dealing with that situation?

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Pic by @Bird Collector​

For a complete list of our Topic of the Week threads, see here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/topic-of-the-week-thread-archive

 

[EggFarm65]

I am new to the chicken world and also noticed that some get bullied. I do intervene by holding the bully for a few minutes, press my hand gentle on their back, or even remove the bully from the roosting bar and back on the ground. Sometimes, I stay in the coop until they quiet down.

I make sure everyone gets treats; there are three feeders and three waterer for 13 chicken and a large run with plenty to do.

My roo gets a time out in the dog kennel jail that is located inside the run if he gets too aggressive, a few minutes to cool his jets seems to do the trick. The ladies walk around the kennel to see what is going on, I guess.
I do not tolerate bullying in my coop and try my best to prevent it. I spent lots of time with my chickens to observe their behavior and dispositions. They are very interesting and often funny creatures.

It has been trial and error for the last five months constantly changing things around, improving the coop and run, and learning from my mistakes.

 

[BDutch]

I am new to the chicken world and also noticed that some get bullied. I do intervene by holding the bully for a few minutes, press my hand gentle on their back, or even remove the bully from the roosting bar and back on the ground. Sometimes, I stay in the coop until they quiet down.

I make sure everyone gets treats; there are three feeders and three waterer for 13 chicken and a large run with plenty to do.

My roo gets a time out in the dog kennel jail that is located inside the run if he gets too aggressive, a few minutes to cool his jets seems to do the trick. The ladies walk around the kennel to see what is going on, I guess.
I do not tolerate bullying in my coop and try my best to prevent it. I spent lots of time with my chickens to observe their behavior and dispositions. They are very interesting and often funny creatures.

It has been trial and error for the last five months constantly changing things around, improving the coop and run, and learning from my mistakes.

Interfering in bullying behaviour is possibly not the best way to make things better.

If there is too much bullying going on its often because the chickens have not enough space and not enough to do. Maybe your perception of a large run with lots to do is not what is required for your flock. Especially when you have a few who are not the friendliest chickens. This often occurs within flocks with many different breeds and many different characters where the chickens who get bullied can’t get away and hide. (Out of sight is out of mind).

Bullying rarely occurs during the day with free ranging chickens and chickens who have a very very large run with bushes, herbs and grasses in it. Searching for food and taking sand baths keeps them occupied.

At roost time space and hidden roosts can do wonders too. Making a roost at the other side of the coop or room/roost divider is often a good solution to stop the bullying. Friends sleep together. The ones they don’t like get pecked. Nice if they can sleep elsewhere. A bit of fuss and pecking is normal.

Establishing and confirming a pecking order is normal chicken behaviour. Some pecking always occurs when you give them food. Having 3 feeders is great to avoid trouble. Throwing some scratch in the run is also helpful to keep hem occupied for a while.

If you can’t free range unsupervised because of predator pressure it might be possible to let the flock free range supervised an hour before sunset. They return to the coop by themselves after sunset. My chickens are so very happy if they are set free it really shows, and happy chickens don’t bully.

Natural rooster behaviour is to give the treats/some food to his hens. A good rooster doesn’t like it if you take over his job and may get angry with you if you interfere in his task. (Look for the article understand your rooster, written by @Shadrach). I also wonder how old your roo is bc you are new to chickens. Under a year old he is a cockerel and might act like a teenager with lots of hormones going through his vains.

 

[EggFarm65]

Interfering in bullying behaviour is possibly not the best way to make things better.

If there is too much bullying going on its often because the chickens have not enough space and not enough to do. Maybe your perception of a large run with lots to do is not what is required for your flock. Especially when you have a few who are not the friendliest chickens. This often occurs within flocks with many different breeds and many different characters where the chickens who get bullied can’t get away and hide. (Out of sight is out of mind).

Bullying rarely occurs during the day with free ranging chickens and chickens who have a very very large run with bushes, herbs and grasses in it. Searching for food and taking sand baths keeps them occupied.

At roost time space and hidden roosts can do wonders too. Making a roost at the other side of the coop or room/roost divider is often a good solution to stop the bullying. Friends sleep together. The ones they don’t like get pecked. Nice if they can sleep elsewhere. A bit of fuss and pecking is normal.

Establishing and confirming a pecking order is normal chicken behaviour. Some pecking always occurs when you give them food. Having 3 feeders is great to avoid trouble. Throwing some scratch in the run is also helpful to keep hem occupied for a while.

If you can’t free range unsupervised because of predator pressure it might be possible to let the flock free range supervised an hour before sunset. They return to the coop by themselves after sunset. My chickens are so very happy if they are set free it really shows, and happy chickens don’t bully.

Natural rooster behaviour is to give the treats/some food to his hens. A good rooster doesn’t like it if you take over his job and may get angry with you if you interfere in his task. (Look for the article understand your rooster, written by @Shadrach). I also wonder how old your roo is bc you are new to chickens. Under a year old he is a cockerel and might act like a teenager with lots of hormones going through his vains.

I do appreciate your feedback and your expertise very much since, I am still learning about chickens and their behavior.
I am hesitant to let my chicken free range first they are only 18 weeks and second we have tons of predators and lost a chicken to a hawk. Hopefully, I get the courage to let them out soon. Thanks again