Hello, chicken hive mind! I am perplexed and am hoping you can lend your expertise.
I have a mixed flock of 10 hens who are just over one year old. They were raised together: 3 Buff Orpingtons, 3 Black Australorps, 2 Barred Rocks, and 2 Silver Laced Wyandottes.
There is evidence of feather pulling on three of the birds; one BO and two BA. All three have feather loss on the lower back which I initially thought was rooster damage. The rooster was re-homed two months ago and the feather loss remains. In addition, it looks like the BO is now experiencing minor feather picking on her neck. No blood has been drawn on any of the three bullied hens, but I have not been able to identify who is doing the bullying. I have not noticed any of that behavior during the daytime so I assume it is occurring either at roosting time or in the early morning before I let them out of the coop. I usually let them out of the coop right at sunrise. I plan to experiment with opening the coop at first light or shortly before to see if that helps mitigate the situation.
They have 80 square feet of space inside their mobile coop, with plenty roosting space, plus daily access to 1500 square feet of pasture on a rotating system employing electric poultry netting. They are laying well and averaging 8-9 eggs a day. The bullied hens appear to be eating and drinking normally.
I would greatly appreciate suggestions as to how to identify the bully or bullies.
I have a mixed flock of 10 hens who are just over one year old. They were raised together: 3 Buff Orpingtons, 3 Black Australorps, 2 Barred Rocks, and 2 Silver Laced Wyandottes.
There is evidence of feather pulling on three of the birds; one BO and two BA. All three have feather loss on the lower back which I initially thought was rooster damage. The rooster was re-homed two months ago and the feather loss remains. In addition, it looks like the BO is now experiencing minor feather picking on her neck. No blood has been drawn on any of the three bullied hens, but I have not been able to identify who is doing the bullying. I have not noticed any of that behavior during the daytime so I assume it is occurring either at roosting time or in the early morning before I let them out of the coop. I usually let them out of the coop right at sunrise. I plan to experiment with opening the coop at first light or shortly before to see if that helps mitigate the situation.
They have 80 square feet of space inside their mobile coop, with plenty roosting space, plus daily access to 1500 square feet of pasture on a rotating system employing electric poultry netting. They are laying well and averaging 8-9 eggs a day. The bullied hens appear to be eating and drinking normally.
I would greatly appreciate suggestions as to how to identify the bully or bullies.
