Sudden Bullying Problem

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montysmummy

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I have had my 4 girls (1 Wellsummer and 3 BlackRocks) for five years and they have always lived very happily together. Suddenly the Wellsummer has started to bully on of the BlackRocks really badly. The other two BlackRocks are now joining in and I have one very frightened, bare-bottomed and bloodied little hen who is now refusing to leave the nest box.
I have borrowed a spare house and isolated the Wellsummer within the main run, and will continue to do so for the next couple of weeks to try to break the habit. Really I just wondered if anyone can tell me why this might suddenly have started. The Wellsummer is elderly and moulting. Could this be a factor?
Thanks!
 
Welcome to the forum.

I think the moulting deprives their little brains of much needed protein Montysmummy. It seems to affect our older birds rather than the young ones. Presumably she is OK with the Welsummer out and just with her sisters. Give the Welsummer extra protein -sunflower hearts, maggots, mealworms. Not too much mind, perhaps 20 grammes a day, while in isolation. If the problem persists consider a Bumpa Bit from Omlet rather than anti-pecking spay on the poor victim.
 
umm i kinda have that probelm with one of my older ex batts she started to look pretty ill a few weeks ago and went downhill so i quantined her so she could get some peace with another bird and within a few days she picked right back up but started a pretty big moult i tried putting her back with the others but all 9 of them beat her as soon as i put her down so now she lives with the pekins who dont care about her at all some of my other older birds mainly the white leghorns have started to pick on my maran it does puzzle you why they suddenly change , each night they get a talking to about being nice to each other but they probably just think i am mad anyway :lol: :lol:
 
We tell ours off as well Karminski. They respond very well to a raised voice. Funny how they suddenly remember what they are supposed to be doing, or not doing, then.
 
Thanks everyone! Betty the Bully is now incarcerated (in a very smart new home) and none to happy about it. Bunty the Bullied is out in the run, but seems to want to stay out of the way on top of the hen house, and who can blame her? Rather encouragingly she is sitting up there with Bertha. Only Bella had a go first thing this morning, and that didn't last long and wasn't too enthusiastic! She has been warned (yes, I tell mine off too!) that she will join Betty if it continues.
Had a look at the Bumpa Bit and nearly fell off my chair laughing at the thought of actually trying to fit one to my very spooky hens. Lets hope it won't be necessary!
Off to deliver a pep talk and clean them out. Oh joy!
 
They take seconds to fit Montysmummy -if you have a pair of 'external circlip pliars'. If I ever get time I will post the photos and an explaination of the process as Omlet are clueless.
 
It's all looking very promising. The BlackRocks are all friends again with no sign of any bullying even at treat time. Bunty, who was so terrorised by Betty only a week ago now sits and talks quietly to her through "the bars". Sweet but bonkers.
As I say it's been a week now. Is that long enough? I don't want to keep Betty in solitary any longer than necessary, but also don't want to undo the good work by rushing things.
I have also been thinking of introducing a couple of newbies. My girls are aging and I am too soft to "move them off the end of the perch", but the egg production is falling and soon I will have none as they all moult and sit out the winter. I HATE buying eggs! How long should I leave things after Betty has been reintroduced? Of course I can always put the newbies in the segregation wing for a while.
 
You should in any case segregate any new birds for a fortnight, as moving is stressful and sometimes this depresses their immune systems so that latent infections emerge. Also it gives time to worm them and if necessary treat any possible infestations before they join the flock. And it gives them a chance to get a them used to the new setup before taking on the rest of the older girls. So I'd say, get your present lot sorted and happy all together, and then get your POLs and keep them apart for a while. There's lots of information on her about how to actually manage things when the new ones go in with the older ones, or do ask if not sure how to go about this with minimum upset.
Tey returning Betty after dark by moving her from whe she is roosting to the coop with the others whilst they are all asleep. Keep watch next day to see how things go.
 
Thanks Marigold. I will leave Betty where she is tonight, because I am out tomorrow so unable to keep an eye on things. I will do as you suggest tomorrow night and see how we go. Hopefully that will be an end to it all. It's actually been very upsetting, especially as they have all lived so happily together for so long! Just wish I knew what had caused the upset in the first place. Funny old things, hens!
Will leave it a while and then look for a couple of POLs when I'm sure everything is back to normal. They can go in the borrowed house where they can see and be seen, but not be got at!!
Thanks for your help!
 
Oh Lordy. I am now having serious doubts about introducing new POLs. On hearing a commotion from the run I dashed up there thinking that Bunty must be under attack again. Not a bit of it. All three BlackRocks had a young ring necked dove cornered and were systematically plucking the poor thing. I managed to catch it and checked it over. No tail feathers left and many small, bare, bleeding patches where the little withches had pecked it so hard. I was still flapping very hard with both wings so I took a chance and let it fly off. Not sure if I did the right thing but at least it has a chance, if I had knocked it on the head it wouldn't!
Why would they suddenly turn almost cannibal? The wild birds enjoy the buffet provided for the hens on a daily basis so it's nothing new to have them in the run. I am nervous about buying new birds now. I certainly don't feel I can risk Bantams, which I had fancied, as I don't think they would survive such an onslaught. Why do they have to be SO horrid?????
 
Older hybrids can be really scary to newbies, tis true, and introductions have to be made very carefully. Last time I did it, the two- year generation gap between the older and younger birds was really evident and it took a long time for everybody to settle down together. In the end I only solved the problem by rehoming a Speckledy, a large lady who had always been bottom of the pecking order and really meek and mild, but when she saw my two little new girls through the mesh I'd fixed up along the run, she suddenly fluffed out to twice her size, stood up really tall, and made the most extraordinary scary roaring noises - I've never heard a chicken do that before. The little 16-week- old innocents went too near the mesh and she grabbed one of them right through it and tried hard to demolish her, good thing I was there, I had to make a double barrier to keep them apart. The new ones were white birds and as it happened, the other three were brown or black - I think they were also reacting to the colour difference, in a racist sort of way.
Eventually, after rehoming the Speckledy (to a friend, where she again became the lowest of the low in his flock) the other two hybrids died off or were PTS, and then I introduced two 5-week-old chicks, again behind mesh of course, to the remaining white hens who had been the newbies in the first place, but were then about 6 months old. This was much easier, at no point has there ever been any trouble at all as the chicks grew up, and when they finally all were in together there was no hassling and from then on they have all got on well together. So you can never tell for sure what will happen.
Surprising story about the little dove - I've heard of them attacking frogs, rats etc, but not another wild bird. You'd need to let the bantams mature until they were fully grown and able to have confidence to stand up for themselves in a mixed group, I expect. But bantams can be very bossy and even turn out to be top of the pecking order in time. we once had a little white Silkie bantam, who would stand no nonsense at all from the great big RIR hybrids she shared the run with!
 
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