Bullying

[Anonymous]

I have a question regarding bullying when introducing new chickens. We originally had a couple of chickens but one of them died and the survivor (Marion) spent a few weeks living by herself. We recently got another two chickens, a light sussex and a silkie (not my choice but I was overruled by my wife and my teenage daughter as it was "so cute"). We kept them apart for a few days in full view and put them next to each other in pens to let them get used to each other. I even introduced the new ones at night.

Unfortunately Marion seems to have taken an intense dislike to the silkie, to the extent that she does not let her come outside at all. I have tried spraying the silkie with anti feather pecking spray but it doesn't seem to help. I left them together for several days now as I though it might just be the pecking order being established but I am getting concerned that the silkie isn't getting any chance to eat or drink. Marion seems to be relatively OK with the ligh sussex (she occasionally chases her a little but she doesn't stop her eating or drinking).

My current plan is to seperate Marion from the other two for large parts of the day to allow the silkie to get outside and eat but to put them back together later in the evening as there doesn't seem to be too much trouble at night. If it all goes well I will let them spend longer periods together. Does this seem like a good isea, or are there any other suggestions?

 

[Anonymous]

Well we seem to have made some progress. I seperated Marion and let the other two have the main run to themselves for the day.

When I got home last night I let them all out into the garden together. I was watching them closely and squirted Marion with water every time she went for one of the other two. I noticed that Marion seemed to be less aggressive but Sally (the silkie) was stillvery timid and ran away whenever Marion got even remotely close. After a while though she seemed to et a bit more brave and by the end of the evening they were all taking a dust bath together.

I have seperated Marion again this morning so that Sally gets used to being outside a bit more and I am going to do the sam again tonight. Hopefully by Sunday I might be able to leave all three in the run together.

 

[Anonymous]

Well , it looks as if your isolation of Marion is working. Well done. I would be interested if the silkie becomes more confident so eventually she can hold her own.

 

[charlielavin]

I have been told that silkies can be picked on by other chickens because they look so different (no comb). Good work on your tactics , I'm hoping to introduce some new chickens so I'll be sure to use them if I need too (I hope not though! .

 

[Tim]

Yes, you are doing the right thing - the introduction was done correctly and bully removed as necessary.

Sadly Charlie is right - if chickens are raised with all the same colour birds for example then they can be very fussy about mixing with other colours and can bully them. Silkies do look completely different to them of course...

Sometimes you get a situation where a bully just will not get on and needs to be rehomed but give her a chance - it will take up to 2 weeks for them to settle down.

Let us know how you get on. T

 

[Anonymous]

At the moment, Marion is not being nearly so brutal (just an occasional lunge or peck) but Sally (the silkie) seems to be petrified of her. They seem to settle down at night time but Sally is very reluctant to come out during the day. Sometimes she will get down the ramp when Marion is at the other end of the run but she runs straight back inside if Marion starts to approach. She seems quite happy being out and about when Marion is laying though. Hettie (the new light sussex) is fine outside and Marion seems to leave her alone most of the time.

In the evenings when we let them out into the garden they seem OK though. Marion wanders off by herself and the other two hang out together but they sometimes get quite close to each other without incident.

I have put them all together again partly because I think they will settle down eventually but also because I think Marion was getting a bit stressed. She normally lays an egg most mornings, but on Friday she didn't lay until night time (and it was beneath the perch instead of in the nest box). Then on Saturday she layed a deformed and wrinkly looking egg.

I think that part of the problem was that Sally has taken to cowering in the nestbox that is furthest from the door whenever marion goes inside. Unfortunately this is the nestbox that Marion always used but now she is laying in the other one.

Hopefully over the next couple of weeks they will get used to each other and I don't want to seperate them again unless I have to.

 

[Tim]

Sounds like they are improving slightly already...

 

[Anonymous]

Just a quick update to say that things are gradually improving day by day. Sally is still very nervous and spends a lot of time in the doorway but she does occasionally come down into the run to eat. One other change I made was to put a small tub of pellets at the bottom of the ramp so that she can come down to eat but still run back inside if she is feeling threatened. This seemed to work OK because the other two charge straight past it when I let them out in the morning so she is definitely eating.

I also noticed that she is regurlaly having a poo (which looks healthy enough) so I assume she is managing to eat during the day when we are at work. Alo there does not seem to be much trouble at night time when they go to bed. Marion still chases her every now and again but I am starting to suspect that she is reacting to Sally running away.