What do you do with the bullies?

[andythescot]

GAH! I have flock of six, and the top hen keeps pecking the other girls out the wazoo! None of them have bled yet, but all their combs are pretty scabby. They are confined most of the day to a run.. but they are all heavy breeds who "shouldn't" mind being confined.
She especially seems to like to peck the others when I come to lock them up at night. So I usually have to bring her down to the end of the roost where there aren't any others to peck.

I don't know what I'm going to do, because I'm in Massachusetts, so I have no idea how much peckin they'll be doing in the winter...

 

[bburn]

Not as much experience here as others will have but everything I have read says to separate her for a while from the others and then put her back in with them. She will have lost her rank and not be top hen anymore and maybe show everyone else some respect.

 

[chicmom]

Unfortunately a bully usually stays a bully. There are these things, called "Pinless Peepers", they are sort of these little blinders that snap on through the nostrils (doesn't hurt), and it supposedly helps deter a bully from pecking. I've heard mixed results. One friend said they worked great, another said that her hen just ripped the thing right off with her foot.

I get rid of the bullies. I've got a farmer friend, with a really large farm, and he's more than happy to take the bullies. I've had two bullies. They were both New Hampshire Reds.

A bully makes real good soup too!

Good luck, whatever you decide, it not good to let that bully make your flock miserable.

 

[OregonChickenGal]

I have a GLW that I had to separate permanently. She's not really a bully, but a terrible feather picker. She is the only one out of 10 hens that does this. Her diet has plenty of protein and calcium in it. She was stressing out the other hens so bad, they would hide all day. It really affected their laying. I didn't want to get rid of her because she is a very nice hen, and an excellent layer. Separate her to her own coop/ crate and run. My hen that I separated, can still see the flock, she shares the same run panel, so she can still interact with the flock. She will still try to pick feathers if a hen gets to close. LOL

 

[silkiechicken]

I eat them...

How confined is confined? 6 birds so about 60 sq feet outside and 24 sq feet inside about?

 

[DaKid]

yep EAT Them

chicken soup sounds Good

 

[cheri222]

Someone told me to pull the bully that was torturing my 2 new silkie girls. So Ezme went off to the chicken jail dog crate in the sunroom for 3 days. I put her back yesterday and I sorta felt bad cuz now everyone is chasing her. The other girls pick on the silkies once in awhile but not nonstop like she did. Give it a try.

 

[andythescot]

The interior of the coop is about 32 square feet (a piece o plywood) and the run is about 64 square feet.
But I can't eat her! Because she is a pet... and I don't know how my younger siblings would react to gobbling her up.. hehe

I guess I could expand the run some more?

 

[DianeS]

I clipped my bully's wings. Now that the other birds can all outrun her, and she can't charge up on them as quickly, things have settled down. (I clipped the wings for a different reason, but this was a really nice side effect!) Might be worth trying if all their wings are natural right now.

 

[plecostrum]

ive left a similar thread

my partridge wyandotte bantam was given too me but has 3 baby things i call them the vultures lol and i say little ones they are 14-16 wks plus i am guessing they resemble some sort of serama cross wyandotte to me as they are small thin leggy and havent grown or fluffed up yet. i am still waiting too see what they are lol

between the 4 of them they hunt the new hen down and blood is flowing the new hen is hiding in a corner with its head between its legs and they still keep going back to it for one more go.

i tried to seperate the pw but she made the most annoying loud noises after the 3 little ones so i have confined them to the coop. for today and will try again tomorrow.

I think i may have to sell the 3 little ones as her mother instinct is causing problems and hope them she calms down

she is too beautiful to eat lolol