[Mrs O]

I have had the chickens (12) for 3 weeks now and have been giving them leg tags to identify them as they have started to show their personalities.

About a week ago I tagged one of the chickens as she seemed to be losing small downy feathers if she flapped her wings or moved quickly.  I thought if I tagged her I could keep an eye on her and see if it got any worse.

Yestereday morning, when I was letting them out I picked her up as she looked like she had lost quite a few big feathers from around her neck and wing areas.  She felt very stubbly to the touch, smaller than a lot of the other birds but warm.  We fed her a little by hand and she seemed fine so we put her back with the others.

A little later I caught about four of the other birds cornering her and seeming to be pecking quite hard at her.  We broke up the incident and they seemed to leave her alone.

This morning when I let them out she was third out of the coop, went straight for the food and the other chickens seemed not in the least bit bothered by her even if she seemed to be blocking their way to the food.  About 20 minutes later about four or five birds cornered her again and were taking turns at pecking at her.  One seemed to be the ringleader but the others were all joining in.

The birds that seemed to be having a go were all untagged so they are not birds that have particularly shown extreme elements in their behaviour.  None of them have flown out of the run, been particularly cheeky or anything.  I have now tagged all of the birds so I can see if is the same birds picking on her.  They all seemed to be bigger birds and all certainly much heavier than her.

I let her out in the garden and she seemed happy to wander with one of the very cheeky birds who tends fly out of the run a lot to do her own thing.  When the bullied one got to close she carefully touched her beak on the back of the other chickens neck but was not in any way nasty.  The bullied chicken seemed to lower her neck in a submissive way and not move for a few seconds.  I watched this happen on two separate occasions.

Is she being bullied or is there something wrong with her?  I am going to try some pecking spray, but is she winding them up or are they just picking on her.  They don't seem to set on any of the others.

I don't want to intervene with the dynamics of the group so should I let them get on with it or try to separate them for periods at a time.  They don't seem to have drawn any blood, just a lot of her feathers out.

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Sarah

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Hi Sarah,

              not sure what breed or age your birds are which can have a bearing on behaviour if the smaller bird is younger or a more docile / bantam breed in a pen with larger more dominant breeds such as ex bats.

              If the birds are not drawing blood then the group / repeated pecking could be being insigated by a dominant hen. feather pecking is usually a sign of stress which can be caused by having too many birds in too small a space without enough to stimulate the birds. Another reason is feather eating which could be a sign of a nutritional deficiency. Though as new feathers have a strong blood supply this can also attract the attention of other hens. Feather loss in birds can be a sign of parasites so treat her with Diatom or something similar. Pay attention to her vent area and under her wings.

              Giving the birds an oppertunity to get out and about if only for a couple of hours at the start of the day will really help with bullying or confinement stress but if this isnt possible then a large run with plenty of piles of leaf litter, grass or the odd stone or log that can be rolled over from time to time to reveal the bugs that hide beneath.

              The bird that you describe as cheeky is what I would call "assertive" I have a bird like this. She is my head girl and is an even tempered and egalitarian leader. Like your cheeky bird she is content to hang out with the lowest ranking bird and can be trusted to feed alongside the tiniest of new chicks. She very rarely needs to peck anyone to remain in charge but always comands respect. When she does need to remind anyone of their manners, like your girl a calm measured peck is all thats required. Your girls lowered head is a submissive and respectful gesture. Holding that position is a normal way of defusing any conflict and showing that she means no harm.

Buffy

[Mrs O]

Thanks Buffy

Your advice has been so useful.

They are all approximately 12 months old Hybrids.  They came from a free range farm that was closing down.

I thought I would investigate stress/boredome first.  They have had the run of the whole garden for the past three and a half hours (about a sixth of an acre).  At one point I had 10 of the 12 all huddled between my rasberry bushes making a huge dust bath.

The one that appears to be bullied joined in with the others but would always be on the outskirts of the group.

About 30 minutes ago we sprayed her with some anti-pecking spray.

Since they have been back in the run she is walking around the outskirts of the run and one at a time they are taking turns at taking  pecks at her neck.  It is as though they are all trying to show her that they are all above her in the pecking order.  Even the ones that haven't seemed to have had a peck her in the past all seem to be having a peck.

The difference is now that they only seem to be giving one sharp pull at her neck feathers whereas before it was four or five of them all attacking her at once.

Their run is square with their house roughly in the middle of it.

Thanks for all your help.

Sarah

[doganjo]

I was given a hen that attacked and killed youngsters, in the hope that she wouldn't try it with an established flock.  She did have ago, but my cockerel saw her off, and after a couple of times she stopped.  I don't have Jamie anymore, neighbours complained so he was rehomed, but Lucky has not been a moment's trouble.

[Mrs O]

Thanks Annie

I have just spent half an hour in the run playing at being a cockerel 

I kept putting the bullied one at the food and every time one of them went to have a go at her I would gently push their back down as a cockerel would.  She seems a bit happier being with the group now and they seem to be letting her walk with them without having a go at her all the time.

Learnt a lot about chicken group dynamics and pecking order today.  Thanks guys. 

Sarah

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Hi Sarah,


  sounds like you are doing the chicken whisperer routine. I hope it works. I the think the two most helpful things in understanding poultry behavior are a comfy seat and a cup of tea The more you observe, the more you learn. The idea of a simple pecking order does not really do justice to the comlexities of the group dynamics within a coop.

Good luck with it and I hope things settle down

Buffy

[Mrs O]

Pretty much all sorted now.  We seperated the bullied one each day first thing in the morning for a few weeks which has ensured she was getting enough food and her feathers could grow back). 

Let them all have the run of the garden for most of the day and evening and put them all back together in their run at about 7pm. 

Now if we catch the one (and it is usually the same one that starts on her we seperate the one thats having a go at her) incidents have decreased now so I think the bully is slowly learning her lesson.

She is still a little bit wary of the bully but is laying again so all is good now.

Thanks again for your help and advice.