Being Henpecked.

[DippyEgg]

We have finally taken the plunge! After reading all the usful advice provided in these pages bought our chickens this afternoon. We brought them home (a R.I.R., Dark Sussex and possibly a Speckled Maran) and put them into their home. Since then the Rhodie has not stopped picking on the other two. It started off as chasing them around the run, then jumping on them and now going for the eyes. We have seperated the Rhodie from the other two for the night, but would really like advice about how best to handle the situation for the longer term. Will the pecking order be quickly established and they all settle down together, or is this likely to continue for the long term? Have we just got a bully in the Rhodie?

DippyEgg :?

 

[Chuck]

Sounds like you either didn't get them from the same place or they were not in the same pen where you bought them. They can be very vicious and if the bullying is as bad as you describe, they need to be kept seperate for a time and introduced gradually. They can draw blood and even kill one another if they are in a confined space together.

 

[chrismahon]

We had a RIR who was positively nasty. We took her in after a fox attack with the other three survivors of the 17 originals. She had large needle sharp spurs that were repeatedly trimmed and rounded. Constantly moaned about everything. Picked on every hen within reach. Bottom the cockerel hated her and always chased her off but the hens in her coop suffered and hardly ever laid. When she was finally separated the remaining hens all laid next day and continued to do so. She cost us a lot of eggs (over 18 months) and there were many times when I would have happily despatched her. When she left for a new home tranquility filled the Orchard. Not the only time I have known of a bully RIR either.

My advice DippyEgg is to get rid immediately. Take her back and get something a bit quieter. If the flock is happy they will all lay well and be healthy. Otherwise the stress she creates could cause all manner of problems.

 

[DippyEgg]

After a night of the RIR being in a cat box, in the run, we released her and she continued to be a right meany; we seperated her again and phoned the place where we had got the girls - great news. we could return her and choose another. oh wonderful news, happy chickens (2 of them at least) and happy us. Took madam back and swapped her for a blue bell. HARMONY...
Latest update the 3 girls have all settled in well, had a mooch around the garden, ignored the rabbit and spooked the cats !

 

[Marigold]

If you take her back now, any single chicken you exchange her for is likely to get badly bullied by the two who remain because after a day or two together they will regard themselves as residents and her as an intruder. Introducing a single chicken is almost always difficult and the 'gooseberry' is often never fully accepted. I would try dividing your run with netting and separating the bully from the others for a week or two, do they can see each other without her bullying them. Provide her with food, water and shelter, under cover- so long as your run is secure this can be a temporary box or similar for her to roost in, it doesn't have to have a perch. During the two weeks the other two will bond with each other and gain confidence, the bully will have time to calm down and settle in, and when the barriers come down she will have lost a few notches in the hierarchy. Research advice on here about how to introduce her, and do this gradually.
If you decide to try to exchange her, now or if integration fails after a time apart, you would be best to get two more, rather than one, and keep them separate from the first two for a couple of weeks by dividing the run as before. Two will form a bond and this will help and support them when they try to join the others, who will also tend to pair up, although eventually all will get on OK and settle down happily together. Do let us know how you get on.

 

[Marigold]

I've just posted the above on Tapatalk and crossed with yours! So glad you've got things sorted - chickens can be a real pain sometimes, worse than teenagers!

 

[DippyEgg]

We did think about getting two more and not just one replacement because in the short time the two friendly originals were happy together. Yet the coop will be too small for 4. We got the replacement from the same mixed group that we got the speckled from, different hybrid but same age.
The dark sussex (Daphne) who is the eldest by a couple of weeks, has become the dominant one and will cluck at the other two when they become too ' in your face. ' The speckled (Mabel) + Bluebell (Freda) do get on very well with Daphne but she is ultimate boss, who has not got a mean feather on her- unlike the now departed RIR who was viscous.

 

[chrismahon]

Really pleased you have got sorted DippyEgg. Happy hens are healthy hens and lots of eggs.