Bully chicken or just pecking order problems?

[CrazyChickenLadyInTheMaking]

Hi,

I'm new to all this chicken keeping , having picked up my new 4 rescues on Saturday. Apologies if this has already been addressed elsewhere.

Up until today the pecking / squabbling has been quite minor, with the odd peck but nothing particularly malicious. There was however a lot of food guarding so I've added an extra couple of food stations and that seemed to do the trick.

I have a definite dominant hen and she only seems to peck the others if they get in her way, which they mostly don't. However, the second hen has today started having a go at the bottom two randomly and even chasing after them. The bottom hen is now hiding in the coop and second from bottom is running away whenever she comes near. I've put food and water in the coop for the bottom hen. The second is still managing to access food and water in the run.

They have the recommended amount of space and I have a bigger walk in run on order to give them even more but the wait time is a couple of weeks so that's no immediate help.

Should I just let them work it out or separate out the bully for a few hours / a day to see if that helps?

[sproutsnbacon]

its a problem with hens. We've currently got the bullied hen in a separate run next to the big run. Not sure when/if she will go back in with the others.
We've not had this problem before as they were free range. I think you've done all the right things

[Honeyroar]

They will generally go through this phase for a couple of weeks. It’s not nice to watch. As long as nothing is getting hurt (because if blood is drawn it gets quite nasty) and everything can get to food/water/shelter it’s fine. I used to leave plastic dustbins on their sides dotted around so the bottom hens could shelter if a higher hen was blocking the coop. I’ve only had one really aggressive hen and found pulling her out of the run for 24 hours knocked her confidence a little and she was a little quieter when she went back (we have stables so just put her in one of them).

[CrazyChickenLadyInTheMaking]

Thanks for the advice, I'll keep an eye out and check there's no blood in the future but for now they're ok. It's just hard to watch :(

Bottom hen has ventured out again so fingers crossed.

[pursuedbyablackdog]

How much freedom did they have prior to you picking them up? My hens are fine when free ranging, but due to current situation of being stuck in a coop and run they had a number of squabbles to establish a hierarchy. They largely tolerate each other now, but I can't wait for them to be allowed to be out roaming again. I found a number of boredom busters helped, I made several food puzzles and games for them. Chickens are clever inquisitive birds and need to be entertained, I found it reduced their stress and behavioural issues (similar to having the kids at home)

[LeroyJenkinssss]

We had a dominant hen who initially was okay but started tail pecking and drawing blood and wouldn’t modify her behaviour after time outs. The other hens became more and more aggressive so we slaughtered her. Everyone else soon calmed down and even with their current confinement are still playing nicely.

I’d definitely agree with giving them entertainment and as much space as you can manage. I find the current guidelines quite stingy with regards to this.

[CrazyChickenLadyInTheMaking]

Pursued - they were caged before I had them, so have a lot more space than they're used to!

I can't distract them with food puzzles as they don't seem interested in any food other than layers mash - even the hallowed corn! Although the bottom 2 hens have discovered how to scratch for worms so they have a bit more variety.

I've got omlet fencing ready for when flockdown ends which should allow them to escape each other a bit better.

[Hollywhiskey]

We made ours a mobile pen that we put a couple in for a few hours in the afternoon to get some grass and away from the others. It looks a bit like the run on a rabbit hutch and you can move it around on the grass so they get fresh grass despite the small area as obviously they have to be totally enclosed. It keeps them busy grazing and scratching while they're out.

[MeltingSnowflake]

Hi @CrazyChickenLadyInTheMaking

How were your chickens in the end? Did the bullying settle down? We just adopted at the weekend and we're going through the same thing!

Hope your ladies are all happy now