The Whole Flock Attacking One Hen

[tarja15]

Little background: I have two seven year old hens, Rosie, buff orpington and Gary, road island red (named by grandson), and six slightly
over a year old sex links. One of the sex links ones died three days ago. I found her lethargic monday night and not in the coop with others. Took her in, gave her the "spa" treatment, notice she had trouble breathing, held her in dark room before putting her in a large dog grate for the night. She was dead in the morning.
The current issue: yesterday as i was gardening i heard a huge ruckus going on in the run. It seemed the whole flock was after Gary. She ran under the coop. Her comb was bloody otherwise she seemed fine. I cleaned her up kept her in till dusk then brought her in the coop. This morning she did not want to come out. I took her out put her down and the group attach was on. now have her in separate area with Rosie the other older hen and no problem. So I don't know if she comb got ripped before the gang attach and they were going after the blood or does this have to do with loosing flock member? I have never had this problem before after loosing a hen.
I would really appreciate any thoughts, ideas and advice from all you experienced chicken keepers.

 

[azygous]

Two reasons why a single hen gets bullied by the flock.

One is she may be ill or injured and the flock is trying to "cull" her.

The other is she is timid and her behavior triggers the bullying. The more she's bullied, the more timid she becomes and the more the others bully her.

I came up with this solution. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/chicken-bully-chicken-victim-a-two-sided-issue.73923/ It's never failed to work.

 

[tarja15]

Thank you

Two reasons why a single hen gets bullied by the flock.

One is she may be ill or injured and the flock is trying to "cull" her.

The other is she is timid and her behavior triggers the bullying. The more she's bullied, the more timid she becomes and the more the others bully her.

I came up with this solution. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/chicken-bully-chicken-victim-a-two-sided-issue.73923/ It's never failed to work.

Thank you so much! Great article. I’ll try it.

 

[centrarchid]

Isolate her physically leaving her able to see and hear flockmates. Inspect her carefully for health issues, particularly those that impact her behavior.

 

[tarja15]

Any ideas on what to check for? She’s eating and drinking normally. Her comb is now healed. I let her free range by herself yesterday she was busy scratching and eating bugs. She has been still laying on and off but now not for about one to two weeks.

 

[centrarchid]

First check t make sure weight is good. Next problem I see that leads to social issues is where attacked bird has a visual impairment that possibly impacts both eyes. Next concern usually is seasonal is a condition I see only in fall that appears to be Marek's Disease. The latter can cause the affected's voice to change making so others do not recognize.