Bullying

[mwepps68]

I couldn't find anything in previous discussion that is like the situation that I have.

We have a mixed flock (Barred Rock(6 , 1 a rooster), 2 Marans, 1 Easter egger, 2 Gold Stars, 1 Gold Laced Wyandotte). All these chickens are a year and half ago and have been together in the same coop/ run since they were chicks. The rooster was a surprise and is overall a good rooster though he can be an a**hole to my wife and I. He doesn't really have a favorite as far as we can tell. Recently, the whole flock has begun bullying one of the Gold Stars. We aren't sure why. She appears healthy except for some minor wounds where the other chickens are pecking at her. She was somewhere in the middle of the pecking order. Since we have separated her from the rest of the flock she is still eating normally and has given us an egg daily. On one occasion one of the Barred Rock hens went around my wife while she was cleaning the separate enclosure where the Gold Star was being kept to attack the bullied hen. Today while I was working in the coop to enlarge the segregation area so she'd have more room the other Gold Star was allowed in just to see if they were OK together and she went after the bullied hen also.
I understand that a sick hen will draw attention from the rest of the flock as they instinctively try to cull disease from the flock but this chicken appears and acts completely healthy. She has been and is one of our top producers.

Any input or advice is welcome, I am completely perplexed as to why this would all of a sudden begin happening. The coop and run were originally designed to be segregated with the addition of some simple wire walls. I am doing that now with the expectation that this might be a permanent arrangement. Thank you for anything you may have to offer.

PS The rooster is involved also.

 

[FrostRanger]

First, any rooster that goes after humans is NOT a good rooster and needs to be invited to dinner

That aside, if the whole flock is in on it, there might be something going on with her you're not seeing. I'm not sure what, but keep a close eye on her. If she's indeed healthy, try see but no touch for a while. If that fails, you will have to either cull or rehome her

 

[mwepps68]

Update:

Found another hen sitting outside of the coop after bedtime. When I went to investigate I found a hen with a beat-up comb. She was taken into the garage and put away for the night until the following day. She was slowly introduced to other hen that had been bullied and was very timid. They are living comfortably together in their end of the coop and run. Except for the door into their side the partition is mostly solid. The other hens look over there from time to time but don't attempt to get in.
Whoever is doing the bullying doesn't mess with any other hens at this time.
While building the partition other hens were allowed into the run. The other Gold Star was fine as was the Easter Egger and both Marans. It seemed that all of the Barred Rock made a direct attempt to get at either of the two that had previously been bullied. The Gold Stars wounds are healed so that isn't what is attracting them. The other hen that was bullied had an injury with some bleeding to her comb but it is mostly healed.
We are leaving the bulk of the flock together for now. Only the birds that were injured are segregated.
On a side note, this morning we found a rat snake in one of the nesting boxes. It may have been in the coop earlier in the day but has been there before and didn't cause any commotion. It definitely hasn't been there the whole time as we have recently done a thorough cleaning of the coop. There was also a rat in the run the night that I found the second injured hen. I suspect that the snake came in looking for the rat.