Chicken pecking driving me to despair....

[Widgeon]

We have 6 chickens, all quite young (under 8 months); a couple of months ago we noticed that one of them was being picked on. One of the other hens seemed to be the ringleader, so we took her (the bully) out for a couple of weeks; sprayed the pecked one with antiseptic and hoped they'd settle down. Things seemed to be going well. This morning we went in, intending to spray them all with the vile anti-peck spray and reintroduce the bully. However it appears that the remaining hens have absolutely laid into the victim overnight (last night); her bottom is red and sore and naked. It looks so awful I've removed her to let her recover. We have sprayed them all and put the original meanie hen back in, but I feel like we're back to square one - we have 5/6 hens in the run and one in isolation.

They are not free range but they have plenty of space; there are enough perches, nest boxes and food for everyone inside, and the outside run is pretty large and we throw vegetables in there to keep them occupied.

So I don't know what to do now. This poor hen clearly has the chicken equivalent of "VICTIM" written across her head - current plan is to let her recover, douse her in anti-peck spray every few days and hope that works. I don't know what else to do! Any clever ideas? Or how have others sorted this problem? I'd rather not resolve this by eating any of them, they are all good layers!

They are 2 x bluebells, 2 x sussex, and 2 x white star (one white star is the victim, the other the bullying ringleader). So theoretically all quite placid breeds.

 

[HappyHollyDays]

Hens will always go for the weakest one in the flock and it can often be sorted out by introducing a male to the mix. You may have to remove her completely for her own safety because they will end up killing her. Not at all nice but hens are vicious little blighters.

 

[Widgeon]

You may have to remove her completely for her own safety because they will end up killing her. Not at all nice but hens are vicious little blighters.

This is what I was worried about. How much of a faff would it be to introduce a male? Are they very noisy? I have literally zero experience of keeping cockerels so all my preconceptions may well be entirely wrong.

 

[HappyHollyDays]

IF you are not near any neighbours and don’t make mind a dawn chorus then an older cockerel will sort the girls out and keep them in order. Don’t get a youngster because he will end up getting bullied until old enough to hold his own. Like all introductions it needs to be done slowly with a gap between them until they get used to each other and for quarantine purposes. I think the easiest thing to do would be to either find a new home for the hen being bullied or allow her to be free range in the garden if secure with her own house. My three (2 girls and their man) live in the garden with our 6 ducks and roost up a tree at night.

 

[Widgeon]

IF you are not near any neighbours and don’t make mind a dawn chorus then an older cockerel will sort the girls out and keep them in order. Don’t get a youngster because he will end up getting bullied until old enough to hold his own. Like all introductions it needs to be done slowly with a gap between them until they get used to each other and for quarantine purposes. I think the easiest thing to do would be to either find a new home for the hen being bullied or allow her to be free range in the garden if secure with her own house. My three (2 girls and their man) live in the garden with our 6 ducks and roost up a tree at night.

Thanks very much. We do have neighbours, but they like the chickens and it's a farming village, so I doubt the noise would be a problem. I'll have a word with them. I'm sure I can find an older cockerel from somewhere. Alternatively, we can build Victim Chicken her own annexe on the run.

 

[HappyHollyDays]

Sounds like a good plan building her her own palatial abode. Hope it all works out ok.

 

[FinnishLapphund]

If you do get a rooster/cockerel, and he turns out to be a bit too vocal, remember that there is collars you can buy for them, which supposedly reduces both the frequency, and volume of the crowing.

I remembered this post by Cremedemonthe about making Cockerel collars

No-crow rooster collars