Bully Rock and Silkie Pecks

[SandyM]

My dominant girl, barred rock, is getting nasty. No one is allowed at the same feeder she is at. None are allowed at the waterers if she is there. No one is allowed in front of her if they are all running towards me. She is exceptionally mean to my EE's who are very docile. She will get ahold of another girl and not let go until the feathers are in her mouth. She will jump with her feet on anyone who can't take a hint with her bossy pecks. She even takes on the rooster. He usually bows and walks away. When he tries to get 'some' , she holds herself up straight and will look him in the eye as if to dare him to even try. He doesn't.

Her behaviour has been getting more nasty little by little. I have her penned in her own fenced in area on the grass. My goal is to leave her in there long enough (coop at night, jail during the day) to bring her down in pecking order.

My question is ... How long, approximately, will this take for her to be down a few notches.


Now for the Silkie - my pullet who is laying will peck at the roosters wing feathers way too much. Like OCD grooming. What is this about?

[Robbie]

A hen like that is/was removed from my flock. Too bad because she was a very nice looking hen, probably would have been a good layer. But Who needs that crap? Not the other chickens. I don't mind the odd bossy moment or chase or even the odd peck and now and again there's a screech because someone got out of line, chickens will be chickens, but I'm watching, and I absolutely will not allow a consistent mean streak. Hens or roosters. No super sucky scaredy chickens either.

She might be nicer in another flock.
As far as your silkie goes, :question:

[WLLady]

first off with the silkie, check the rooster for mites.....chickens can see tiny things better than we can. otherwise she's just over grooming. if she starts destroying his feathers it's time for her to move away from him. he should tell her though if it's bugging him.....if she draws blood she MUST be removed from him....otherwise she'll get the other birds attracted to the blood and then you could end up with a very damaged rooster.

the bossy hen....if you remove her, she should not be able to see the other chickens and preferably not hear them either...tough on a single property thought if you don't have another building you can put her in. then i would give it a week for the other girls to work out their new pecking order, then reintroduce. if she and the new head hen then go at it and she wins you will probably have to remove her from the flock permanently. overly bossy animals just end up being flock head over a bunch of damaged and scared birds. i'm with robbie on that one, if she doesn't cease and desist after reintroduction another flock might be better for her.

at my place i always have at least 2 flocks, one of older birds (layers) all outside in a different building, with a couple of cockerels. and the other is up in the barn, if someone starts being pissy i take them out and throw them in the other flock. usually they are knocked right back to the bottom of the pecking order in short order...then leave them there for a week or so and they're way better going back to the old flock. much more tolerant because they have been lowered a lot on the pecking order. if you don't have 2 flocks, it's hard to do.

[SandyM]

I did read about mites and I checked him out (actually all Of them) and he's good. It's just the one side she walks on. Weird but it's happening lol. He turns away from her but doesn't really let her have it. I'll keep an eye on it.
She's boss Silkie hen..anything to do with it?....no blood No feathers pulled or bald spots.

I picked up my 3 new silkie pullets from Barb Dodington today - had a a short visit and learned some amazing tips to keep my silks happy and healthy. I'm on it and so pumped!!! Woohoo!!

[SandyM]

Maybe I'll put her in with the silkies .... She might be too feisty for them tho ... But I'll surpervise and see how it goes.

I took her out of jail and put her on the roost a few minutes ago and she's giving them hell. Anyone who comes on the roost she shuffles over and pecks and pulls feathers until they pick another roost. I gave her a peck and she raised up and tried to challenge me so I picked up and when she relaxed I put her back on the roost and she settled.

Not sure why she's turned into super bitch ...
Maybe I'll dog crate her up here on the deck for a good week - that's away from everyone.

[Killerbunny]

I had a red hen like that. Several solitary tries and then I had to cull her when I caught her holding down a cockerel with her feet on both wings pounding the back of his head!

[Robbie]

I had a red hen like that. Several solitary tries and then I had to cull her when I caught her holding down a cockerel with her feet on both wings pounding the back of his head!

OOooo that's nasty.
Coincidence? the mean hen I culled was red too! Not a buckeye though.

[SandyM]

Wow!! That's a nasty one KB!!! Well tomorrow she's in the dog crate being solitaire ... Morning, noon and night. We'll see what that does after 7-10 days. Hopefully I don't need to cull her ... Hate to lose an egg layer.

[Killerbunny]

Not a buckeye just a red layer mutt!

[Robbie]

Not a buckeye just a red layer mutt!

I hear that some of those red production layers can be really mean on occasion. It seems to be rare to have a nasty barred rock, But unfortunately for Sandy, looks like they do exist.