Pharaoh Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 My ex-bats arrived in January and have survived the hard winter. However, one is being bullied and prevented from feeding. She came oven-ready but is now feathered. Even if I scatter food for her the others come and she runs away.There was only one bully at first but the other three are now as well. Any ideas please? They are free ranging and I hope to be able to increase the area soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 Add some more feed stations - they don't have to be proper feeders, any container will do as long as it's weighted down or heavy enough not to be kicked over. It's normal for the hen that's bottom in the pecking order to eat after the others rather than at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancing cloud Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 As Olly says I had to add enough feeders for all my ex-batts plus another one, so they couldn't possibly guard them all and bottom of the pile had somewhere to eat. After the initial excitement of so many feeding places, the top hens all reverted to the main feeder leaving the rest to the lower ranks. They do eventually settle down when they realise there's plenty of food and water, and they don't need to fight for every beakful any more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 I have a Pekin who gets the same treatment, but if I watch for long enough I see that she hangs back and will spend time on her own and eats then. I've never noticed that she's losing weight or appears underfed. I bet your girl manages to get enough. But as others have said...the more feeding stations the better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pharaoh Posted February 27, 2016 Author Share Posted February 27, 2016 Thanks for all the advice. They are now in the whole garden and I have more feeding posts. However, there always seems to be some-one who sees the bullied hen when she approaches food and chases her away! I try to sneak her some food before someone notices! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pharaoh Posted May 6, 2016 Author Share Posted May 6, 2016 Just to report that all four are co-existing happily and there is no bullying or even a pecking order. Two of them, including the bullied one, lay their eggs in a corner of the garden. They started this as they were not being allowed into the coop. It took me a while to locate it as it was well hidden! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjp Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 there will be a pecking order it just that they all know their place in it so there's no need to enforce it with much more than a glance from the top 2 hens, well the 2nd hen really has it's her job to keep the lower hens in place so they don't try to oust her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
