Lately, I’ve had a few bare ladies in my flock… which sounds a lot sexier than it actually is because a naked chicken is NOT attractive, no matter how big her breasts are!
Jokes aside, anytime a chicken in my flock is having issues, I am there immediately to help her through it. Thus far we have been blessed by Almighty God and haven’t had too much to deal with.
However, my flock consists of two integrated flocks and a rooster. Having the rooster has helped with the pecking order quite a bit but we still get some feather pulling going on. It had been minimal until a few months ago when I started noticing that my Easter Eggers and one of my speckled Sussex hens started getting some bare backs. No blood, just feather loss.
My first assumption was that the rooster had been treading too hard and pulling them out with his spurs. He’s pretty young and learning still, and his spurs are short but pointy, so that was the most logical conclusion. But then…. One fateful day my husband witnessed the truth that changed the whole story!
The rooster mounted one of the Easter Eggers and no feather loss occurred, but while he was on this poor girl, the oldest barred rock hen ran over to pluck a feather from her back and proceeded to eat it! Gasp!! What in the world? And while the poor girl was defenseless! For shame!!
What do you do with a bully?
Well, I like to shame them first (see video above) and then give them love. Because at the end of the day a bully really just lacks love and attention in their life, right? So yesterday Foody Booty and I had a heart to heart, I gave her some snuggles and some scratches and hopefully she takes me seriously because if it continues she will be on a two week isolation from the others.
As I understand it, separating one hen from the flocks for a couple of weeks causes them to lose their place in the flock and they might not be so bitchy. We’ll see how it goes and I’ll keep you updated!
Be sure to let me know if you have any keen tips for preventing such horrific bully habits. I try to keep them occupied with snacks and dust baths and toys and free ranging, but it hasn’t been enough for this mean streak. All ideas welcome! Minus freezer camp, I’m not gonna off one of my most productive hens. Plus, I raised her from a fluff and she has a name, so I couldn’t do it if I wanted to. But I’m game for more creative shaming tactics! Let me know what you know.
Be blessed! 🙏😊
Artful Homemaker 