One of my new chickens is being bullied

[Emilyjones1997]

Hello,
I just added 2, 3 month old pullets to my existing 3 month old flock. One of the new chickens is being bullied by 2 of my girls. They aren’t being extremely aggressive, just pecking a little bit and chasing them back into the coop every time they come out. They do have access to food and water both inside and outside so I’m not concerned with that. Are there any solutions, other than isolation of the two aggressive chickens? I really don’t have anywhere to isolate them. Also, is there a way I can treat everyone for cocci as a precaution? Thank you in advance!

 

[DobieLover]

Hello, Emily, and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.

It doesn't sound like you did a "look don't touch" period or a quarantine. You can put the two bullies into a "look don't touch" large dog crate with their own food and water in the run for a few days for the new girls to get a break and gain confidence.
How large is your set up? Can you provide pictures?
Are there lot's of things to perch on and hide behind?
Are any of the breeds you are integrating vastly different looking than the rest?

I would absolutely have Corid on hand but would not treat unless they show symptoms.

 

[reddogmaster2]

Hello,
I just added 2, 3 month old pullets to my existing 3 month old flock. One of the new chickens is being bullied by 2 of my girls. They aren’t being extremely aggressive, just pecking a little bit and chasing them back into the coop every time they come out. They do have access to food and water both inside and outside so I’m not concerned with that. Are there any solutions, other than isolation of the two aggressive chickens? I really don’t have anywhere to isolate them. Also, is there a way I can treat everyone for cocci as a precaution? Thank you in advance!

One of the biggest mistakes that people make is taking human emotions or human logic and extrapolating it to animals. The term "bullying" is a good example and certainly "bullying" has taken on a much more sinister meaning than what you are witnessing with your birds. Establishing a Pecking Order is more accurate.

What you are seeing is chickens doing what chickens do. Don't worry about it. Keep them safe, well fed, well watered and they will be fine.

OH, and keep them off social media, too much bullying happens on the facebook from what I hear!

 

[Lovem all]

they are just establishing that they are "better" than her

 

[DobieLover]

One of the biggest mistakes that people make is taking human emotions or human logic and extrapolating it to animals. The term "bullying" is a good example and certainly "bullying" has taken on a much more sinister meaning than what you are witnessing with your birds. Establishing a Pecking Order is more accurate.

What you are seeing is chickens doing what chickens do. Don't worry about it. Keep them safe, well fed, well watered and they will be fine.

OH, and keep them off social media, too much bullying happens on the facebook from what I hear!

they are just establishing that they are "better" than her

Yes, they are establishing a pecking order. That pecking order is a dynamic entity that is constantly reshaping.
However, when new birds are introduced into a flock without a proper introduction in an environment that does not enable the low rankers to get out of the way of the high rankers OR the high rankers are just plain nasty, the new comers can be seriously injured and even killed.

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC. Check out this link - Flock integration

 

[nao57]

I don't think you have to be in extremes of either side. You don't have to tolerate bullying, but you don't have to ignore it either.

I encourage you to try things. Don't just be passive about it.

Being passive is how you have trouble.

Its fine to try things and curb the pecking order stuff, but still appreciate that its there for a reason and somewhat normal. For example, people will say they often don't just suddenly move in new flock members cold turkey without a preparation process. Often people here talk about introducing them to each other by degrees over time until they don't react too much.

But the guy that said pecking order is normal isn't wrong to also say that.

You can use a mix of lots of ideas.

 

[Emilyjones1997]

Hello, Emily, and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.

It doesn't sound like you did a "look don't touch" period or a quarantine. You can put the two bullies into a "look don't touch" large dog crate with their own food and water in the run for a few days for the new girls to get a break and gain confidence.
How large is your set up? Can you provide pictures?
Are there lot's of things to perch on and hide behind?
Are any of the breeds you are integrating vastly different looking than the rest?

I would absolutely have Corid on hand but would not treat unless they show symptoms.

Thank you! Yes, we did do a slow introduction and the chickens did not care about the newbies through the chicken wire at all. We slowly introduced them into the coop and hadn’t run into issues until this morning. The coop and run are a pretty good size. They have about 100sq ft of run space and the coop is 6’x6’ with plenty of nesting boxes and roosts for everybody. The run has 3 good sized roosts as well, but they free range for a good chunk of the day. I currently have the old girls free ranging and the new girls in the coop/ run. The two I just got look like they were being bullied at their old house. They are missing back feathers( I have already started treatment for mites/lice just in case) and they are very skittish and nervous. I probably should’ve isolated them longer, but I foolishly didn’t have anything on hand to keep them in for a long period of time.

 

[Emilyjones1997]

I don't think you have to be in extremes of either side. You don't have to tolerate bullying, but you don't have to ignore it either.

I encourage you to try things. Don't just be passive about it.

Being passive is how you have trouble.

Its fine to try things and curb the pecking order stuff, but still appreciate that its there for a reason and somewhat normal. For example, people will say they often don't just suddenly move in new flock members cold turkey without a preparation process. Often people here talk about introducing them to each other by degrees over time until they don't react too much.

But the guy that said pecking order is normal isn't wrong to also say that.

You can use a mix of lots of ideas.

Yes, I did expect them to go through this to establish pecking order. I’m just worried about one of the new chickens because she isn’t standing up for herself. She is visibly scared every time she is approached by one of the girls and they’re feeding off of it. I’m just hoping she doesn’t become too stressed.

 

[Emilyjones1997]

Yes, they are establishing a pecking order. That pecking order is a dynamic entity that is constantly reshaping.
However, when new birds are introduced into a flock without a proper introduction in an environment that does not enable the low rankers to get out of the way of the high rankers OR the high rankers are just plain nasty, the new comers can be seriously injured and even killed.

That is what I’m worried about. We did do a slow introduction through the chicken wire and everything actually went well for a while. We are suddenly experiencing this out of the blue and I’m getting concerned for my one very timid girl. She isn’t doing too well standing up for herself so I’m just wondering if I should isolate the bullies as a last resort.