Odd chicken out

[sandrajoylee]

Hi,
My family and I returned from a 2 week vacation and something had changed with our 5-hen flock of Easter Eggers. Our housemate and neighbor took good care of them while we were gone, even giving them fresh veggies daily. One hen now remains on the roost all day. When she tries to come down the other hens harass her. We found a way to put water and food on the higher level so she can eat. We tried separating two aggressive hens away from the coop to see if she would come down but she didn't. It seems that all of the other hens are against her. Sometimes one hen will jump up on the roost and terrorize her further. These hens grew up together since they were very young with no problems. They started molting about a two months ago and the temperatures are getting cooler but we are in Los Angeles so not super cold. Any idea why a situation like this could evolve and how to fix it?
Thank you so much,
Sandra

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

How old are they and how big is your coop and run? Have you noticed if this particular hen is acting off in anyway?

 

[Ribh]

@Shadrach ~ here is an interesting one for you!

 

[sandrajoylee]

The coop is 41"w x 87"l x 39" h. The hens are about 1 1/2 years old. We haven't noticed the outsider chicken acting off but it's hard to tell since she is perched the whole day. If she jumps down the other chickens all attack her.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

They definitely need more room. Chickens that are confined too closely often become aggressive. Those lower on the pecking order need to stay away from dominant members. If they don't they will be corrected. From my observations the distance is 5-10 feet.

Chickens also need to burn off excess energy running or scratching or else they will find other ways to do so.

I think your chickens may be telling you they need more room.

Molting birds require more protein. What are you feeding? It's recommended to feed a ration with 18-20% protein to help them molt. If they don't have enough protein in their diet they may search it out, or become more aggressive because of it.

I also want to say welcome to BYC.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Is that all the space they have, as seen in that photo? Or do you let them out most of the time? When you were gone were they allowed out as usual (assuming you do so) - if not, that's the problem right there...

 

[sandrajoylee]

Thank you for the replies. Yes this is all the space they have right now. We did have them in a bigger space but the dog next door kept breaking in. Yes, I see that we need to find a way to enlarge this space and still keep them secure somehow. We are feeding them pellets for layers, meal worms and kale.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Unfortunately the space you have is just about big enough for a coop only. So a run really is needed here to start addressing the issue while still keeping the chickens safe. Not sure what the "bigger space" you were using looked like but one suggestion for a quick run space addition would be a dog kennel. You'll still need to do some work on it, namely reinforcing it (such as adding an apron so that a dog can't dig in) but it's a quick set up and sometimes you can find used ones on Craigslist or whatnot for pretty cheap.

 

[Mrs. K]

Always solve for peace in the flock. They are trying to tell you, that one less will fit the set up better. Sell some birds until you get a bigger space. It can and probably will get much worse.

 

[sandrajoylee]

Thank you to each of you who offered advice and insight on our problem. Here is an update on odd chicken out problem. My husband built a bigger run and attached a real coop to the end of it. The run is 25' long and almost 4' wide and 4' high so now these girls have 20 square feet each! The problem with one of them being separated is gone and now they are all running around doing their thing.