bully behavior

Hi all, We recently added 4 adult chickens to our existing flock of 5- we had them in a fenced off part of the yard for 3 weeks, and have let them mingle in the 1/4 acre yard the last week. The two flocks are mostly just ignoring one another, but one of the new hens (a blue laced Wyandotte) has...

We got our new chicks one week ago. This is also our first time raising chicks. They were doing fine the past week but last night one of them died. We are not exactly sure why but after a lot of research today, we think sudden death syndrome. Anyway, all of sudden today the other 3 seem to...

Our flock stats: First time guinea owners Started with 13 keets last July, and are currently down to 10 adults due to predators Not sure how many males vs females but there’s at least a few of each I’d say Sleep in coop at night, ~9’x12’ with 16+ ft of roosting space between 2 beams. Free range...

I have two drakes that are gentle & friendly to my ducks, but have decided to pick on one of my geese. The goose (Chinese/Greylag mix) is kinda timid and doesn’t realize she can fight back. I always tell her “whoop their asses, Lucy!” but no luck 😂 I think I might have to rehome one of the...

I'm sure this has been discussed to death but none of the previous answers exactly answer my question. I have a flock of 8 hens. They were separated, 4 in a group, from 1 day old to about 2 months for an agriscience project for my high school science class. After the project, Groups A and B...

I just got five new hens from someone today and he warned me that one (Jessica) is the lowest in the pecking order. Jessica has been bullied and pecked at all day, I even brought her inside for a bit to give her a break. She hasn’t eaten or drank and just lays down and takes whatever pecking...

My 4+ y/o RIR, Willy Honka, is a great chicken.... most of the time. However, since this time last year, when my BO Glory starts to molt and blood feather nubs start showing up around her vent/rear end, Willy Honka becomes OBSESSED with plucking and pecking them. Inevitably, this causes bleeding...

Hello all! I have a bit of an issue. Obviously, all flocks have a pecking order, and in mine the head chook is my BSL, Pinguino. She usually picks on Brigid, our biggest chicken (literally, and figuratively) who is supposed to be a Jersey Giant. Well, I've noticed a few bloody combs in the last...

I have a hen in my flock who always sleeps near the door of the coop. She keeps attacking any other hen who tries to go in at night and now i'm finding hens trying to sleep all over the run! Does anyone have any advice for stopping this behaviour?

I have four chickens. One of them is getting picked on excessively and I'm not sure the best way to help. They have about 8ish square feet per chicken in their coop/pen, and go out into a much larger run every day where they each have about 35 sqft per chicken. I'm working on building a bigger...

Hello! We have a 1 year old dark Brahma who was being pecked pretty badly by her flock mates. She has a pretty large bald patch on her back and around her vent. The area near her vent is pretty red, and while applying Vaseline and peck no more today I noticed a hard white lump (see the third...

Hello! I have a flock of 6 in New England. 1 Buff Orpington - ~3 years 1 Americuana - ~3 years These two are OG flock mates. 4 Lavender Orps - 1 year this May. Debbie the buff has been an absolute menace as of late. Getting on the backs of two lavs and biting their necks. To the point where...

I own 3 Muscovy Females and 2 Goose Females. Recently the dominant Muscovy(Dotty), has been bullying (chasing, harassing, etc.) one of my other Muscovy's(Penny). Penny has started not staying with the flock and instead watching them from across the yard and sitting alone, Dotty however is...

I’m looking for advice on what I can do for my >6 month old hen Brontë, who has returned to her former habit of plucking and eating the feathers of her five other flock mates. If you can share any stories or advice you have on curing a chicken of feather eating, please leave a comment. I’m...

i’m so stressedddd, i’ve noticed some of my chooks are losing feathers and this is coming up on year one of me being a chicken tender and this is a first for me. i need the experts to look at all these photos and help me see if they are getting bullied or if some are molting or both! one day i...

Hi, folks. I’ve got a challenging situation and would love your advice. My hens are about a year and a half old. They grew up together as chicks and have lived in harmony. A few months ago, they stated to molt for the first time. They didn’t do it all at once. The later molters are almost done...

Our top hen, Midge, is a bit of a bully. Initially, it was nothing concerning. She was always one of the first ones to food and seemed to push others out of the way (or just step close to the food and the other pullets would move away), and she was prone to pecking anyone she thought was too...

Hi, I’ve just been given a chicken. It was bullying some silkies at its old home (it’s a solo Isa Brown hen). I’ve had it in isolation away from my other chickens and there hasn’t been a problem with them seeing each other through the fence. I tried to see how the hen would be with my flock so...

Please help! I have one a-hole chicken who grabs the beaks of my other hens and twists and tears their beaks. She follows them around and yanks food out of their mouths. When the other three hens of the flock are together, there are no issues. This one was brought home two days later, all...

I have 3 chicks and one is being a total bully. It picks on just one chick specifically. I didnt realize it could get this bad but while we were out one day the chick apparently beat up the other one so bad that blood was drawn and and we had to have the poor baby’s eye looked at. We separated...