Would you keep a mean chicken?

[Tonyroo]

It's foolish to think you can break a habit when she clearly have the advantage over the flock.

On top of that, having her around creates terror and high stress levels for the flock. Which in turn affects there health in the long run.

Remember, your managing the welfare of your flock to be productive.

 

[LaFleche]

chicken that poops bigger than the eggs it lays?

She might be getting broody. Does she lay?

I had chose Bearded Silkies as my main breed. All of them are super sweet including my Rooster.

Usually, 'normal' chicken breeds that were not raised with Silkies from the beginning will not accept but bully them, pulling feathers and severely peck them which can even lead scalped Silkies or to their death.

I decided that I should get a couple of bigger chickens for larger eggs and had chosen Black Copper Marans after lots of research. Neither of my bigger girls, which my neighbor gave me are BCMs, which they were supposed to be. One is a Cream Legbar, she can be quite a bully but she's not very big. The other one ended up being a Blue Laced Red Wyandotte. She's like 2 times the size of the Cream Legbar and 3 times the size of the Silkies.

Keeping the Silkies separate would be the way to go.

And the Cream Legbar, who I thought was losing her feathers on her back from mating is actually losing her feathers from the Blue Laced Red Wyandotte pecking her hard, then pulling out her feathers.

And to stop the Wyandotte from pecking and pulling feathers, get her some pinless peepers. She will still be able to eat, drink, preen etc. but leave her victims alone.

What exactly are your feeding? Protein percentage?


Or have a wonderful chicken soup!

 

[Brooks_]

Unfortunately, it's been very cold here, so nowhere else for her to keep warm at night.

Or have a wonderful chicken soup!

That's pretty warm.

 

[BDutch]

Having just one breed or a few similar breeds is easier in flock management. Especially if you don’t have a large coop and run chickens get stressed easily if the breeds don’t match.

Try to avoid high stress levels. Give or create hiding places and make several feed stations where the chickens don’t see each other eating. Give food from dawn till dusk.

Take a hard to catch chickens from the roost at night. Also good for a check on health, injuries, parasites and foot problems.

 

[EliseH]

She might be getting broody. Does she lay?

Usually, 'normal' chicken breeds that were not raised with Silkies from the beginning will not accept but bully them, pulling feathers and severely peck them which can even lead scalped Silkies or to their death.

Keeping the Silkies separate would be the way to go.


And to stop the Wyandotte from pecking and pulling feathers, get her some pinless peepers. She will still be able to eat, drink, preen etc. but leave her victims alone.

What exactly are your feeding? Protein percentage?


Or have a wonderful chicken soup!

She started this behavior when she started laying about a month and a half ago. She lays early in the morning. I've never seen her in the nesting boxes and never sitting on an egg.
She actually left tonight to live with Chickens her own size.
I am feeding Nutrena All Flock which has high protein which the Silkies need.
I am getting another coop and will get some Black Copper Marans in the Spring and probably move my Cream Legbar girl over there too.

 

[EliseH]

Having just one breed or a few similar breeds is easier in flock management. Especially if you don’t have a large coop and run chickens get stressed easily if the breeds don’t match.

Try to avoid high stress levels. Give or create hiding places and make several feed stations where the chickens don’t see each other eating. Give food from dawn till dusk.

Take a hard to catch chickens from the roost at night. Also good for a check on health, injuries, parasites and foot problems.

Yeah, they were all stressed out. Hopefully, tomorrow when I let them out of the coop they will realize the crazy chicken is gone and be less stressed. There were hiding places in the run for the Silkies but she would seek them out.
No injuries, parasites or foot problems. She's as healthy as a horse.
She went to live with chickens her own size. I doubt they will put up with her behavior. lol
And wait til she sees their Rooster. lol. My Silkie Roo tried to mate with her. I don't think he physically would've been able to because of her size. He was super nice, doing the wing dance and as soon as he dropped his wing, she'd attack his face. Poor guy is missing all of his beard feathers.

 

[LaFleche]

She actually left tonight to live with Chickens her own size.

Good decision!

I am getting another coop and will get some Black Copper Marans in the Spring and probably move my Cream Legbar girl over there too.

Black Copper Marans are usually friendly and rather easy to manage.
Maybe get another Cream Legbar hen as well so your girl will have a similar looking friend among the BCM and not stick out like a sore thumb.

 

[Possum-Pie]

Bullying or fighting = stress. Stress= less/no egg laying. I've agonized for months about getting rid of my Bard Rock. She bullies the other hens, but I've put off getting rid of her b/c she doesn't hurt them. I put out several handfuls of scratch/black fly larvae each morning as a treat and she runs to a pile, pushes the rest away and begins munching. The others wander off to another pile and Bard Rock then runs to that pile pushes them away. She is given a wide berth if she is walking through the coop or run by the others, but she is not hurting them physically. Just a bully.

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

It’s difficult to have to cull a problem chicken, but for longevity and a healthy flock it is sometimes necessary.
I saw a nearly instant change in my flock for the better after culling a problem cockerel. The flock was visibly at ease after just a few hours.

 

[EliseH]

All my chickens were more relaxed yesterday and today. It was extremely noticeable. Even my Roo was super chill. She had pulled out all of his beard feathers.
I haven't gotten an update on how my crazy girl is doing in her new flock yet.