Bully chicken

[Stephlorraine]

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 took it down to the chickens holding it. I put it down after my flock seeming okay with her. The bully chicken started fighting with my sick girl (just coming good), and she fought back. My biggest chickens I expected would dominate her and sort her out, but she continued to attack and chase all my chickens. Is there any tips for a successful introduction with a bully chicken? My chickens are my babies and if she is going to continue to bully she will need to go to a new home. This is a reason I have never had an Isa Brown, and personally didn’t want it in the first place when I was offered it, but she was going to be killed and I felt bad. She’s a lovely chicken toward me and my dog, but she is horrible in a flock setting. And please don’t make nasty comments, I want to give her the best chance.

 

[SmiYa0126]

Hello!

There will be some fighting initially when she tries to assert her place in the flock. My hens and roo got a little beat up in the first two weeks. I monitored and cleaned up any scratches. After the initial fighting there isn't anymore bullying.

If it continues, I've seen people get pinless peepers, you could try those.

 

[Stephlorraine]

Hello!

There will be some fighting initially when she tries to assert her place in the flock. My hens and roo got a little beat up in the first two weeks. I monitored and cleaned up any scratches. After the initial fighting there isn't anymore bullying.

If it continues, I've seen people get pinless peepers, you could try those.

Thank you for your response. I’m way too soft and don’t want this chicken coming in and doing the same thing it did at its last home. The silkies were sitting on eggs and she was bullying them for a long time before that. I’ve brang chickens in multiple times and none have ever acted like this chicken. It’s always been my chickens giving them a little chase and asserting dominance, but this chicken is game. My main concern was stressing my poor sick girl out and her going down hill again. How long did it take for yours to stop bullying? What are pinless peepers?

 

[SmiYa0126]

After two weeks, but I've seen worse cases on here. Pinless peepers sit on the bridge of their nose and block their vision.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The physical size of the chicken isn't important in things like this. The personality and spirit of the individual is much more important. It is pretty common for bantams to dominate full sized chickens. You cannot count on size, as you have seen.

ISA Browns are commercial laying hybrids bred to take confinement well and live in close contact with lots of other chickens. She is technically not a breed but close enough. Breeds may have tendencies but each chicken is an individual. Most chickens of a breed may follow certain behaviors but you can always find an exception. I don't find breed to be all that important in describing the behavior of an individual. You can find sweet chickens or brutes in any breed.

It is not unusual for chickens to pick on a weak or sick member of the flock. In the wild a sick or injured chicken can attract predators so they try to run them off or kill them to protect the flock. Our chickens are no longer wild so many don't do that but some still do. That may explain why the ISA Brown picked on that specific chicken. Or maybe she was starting her campaign to become the dominant chicken in the flock and decided to pick on an easy one first.

Do you know how old the ISA Brown is? How old are your chickens? A difference in maturity level can have a huge effect in this type of behavior and how to manage it.

How big in feet or meters are your facilities, coop and run? Photos could be beneficial in determining what specific recommendations I might make in your case. The tighter your space the more problems you typically have with integration.

I'm not sure what is going on or what you have to work with. All I can do is offer some generic integration methods that often help. House them across wire for a while. You did but not sure for how long. Longer might help but many times it doesn't, each situation is unique. Give them as much room as you can, both in the coop and outside. Try to not lock them into a tight space together but give the room to run away. You can sometimes improve the quality of what room you do have by adding clutter. Clutter means giving them things to hide under, behind, or over to break the line of sight. Have widely separated feed and water stations so they can all eat without conflict, especially out of line of sight of the other.

It is possible she is a brute and bully, not suitable for being in a flock. It is possible she is trying to become the dominant hen in the flock and will mellow out when she achieves that status. It is possible your facilities are so small it leads to brutal integrations. I don't know what is going on.

 

[Stephlorraine]

The physical size of the chicken isn't important in things like this. The personality and spirit of the individual is much more important. It is pretty common for bantams to dominate full sized chickens. You cannot count on size, as you have seen.

ISA Browns are commercial laying hybrids bred to take confinement well and live in close contact with lots of other chickens. She is technically not a breed but close enough. Breeds may have tendencies but each chicken is an individual. Most chickens of a breed may follow certain behaviors but you can always find an exception. I don't find breed to be all that important in describing the behavior of an individual. You can find sweet chickens or brutes in any breed.

It is not unusual for chickens to pick on a weak or sick member of the flock. In the wild a sick or injured chicken can attract predators so they try to run them off or kill them to protect the flock. Our chickens are no longer wild so many don't do that but some still do. That may explain why the ISA Brown picked on that specific chicken. Or maybe she was starting her campaign to become the dominant chicken in the flock and decided to pick on an easy one first.

Do you know how old the ISA Brown is? How old are your chickens? A difference in maturity level can have a huge effect in this type of behavior and how to manage it.

How big in feet or meters are your facilities, coop and run? Photos could be beneficial in determining what specific recommendations I might make in your case. The tighter your space the more problems you typically have with integration.

I'm not sure what is going on or what you have to work with. All I can do is offer some generic integration methods that often help. House them across wire for a while. You did but not sure for how long. Longer might help but many times it doesn't, each situation is unique. Give them as much room as you can, both in the coop and outside. Try to not lock them into a tight space together but give the room to run away. You can sometimes improve the quality of what room you do have by adding clutter. Clutter means giving them things to hide under, behind, or over to break the line of sight. Have widely separated feed and water stations so they can all eat without conflict, especially out of line of sight of the other.

It is possible she is a brute and bully, not suitable for being in a flock. It is possible she is trying to become the dominant hen in the flock and will mellow out when she achieves that status. It is possible your facilities are so small it leads to brutal integrations. I don't know what is going on.

She would have chose my girl to fight with because she was right in front of her and I don’t think Indi was very happy that she was there. The Isa is supposed to be a fair age. The lady who had her previously said she’s not a young chicken, so I would assume she’s 2 years plus. I introduced them in my yard, not their coop. I have a decent sized coop area where they get locked up of a night, but through the day they free range. I have a decent sized yard and they love it. I honestly think she is just a bully chicken. She pinned one of my girls down and was pulling on her head feathers, and my poor girl cowered to her. This was all in the space of a few minutes. I haven’t let her back near them since. It’s sad because she’s a nice chook toward me, but not very nice to other chickens. She’s got one more chance to get her act together. I know there’s the pecking order and more dominant chickens, but I’ve just never had a chicken who comes into another’s territory and straight up acts like that. Usually the newbies are keeping their distance from the others and are getting a little chase here and there.