Reintroducing Bloody Mary - Plan B

If Plan C doesn"t work......Perhaps Plan 9 from Outer Space.....lol

Nighttime Ninja Sneak Attack... LOL

I know folk have already left their input, but I'm going to add my vote for more space. :) My chickens were attacking each other like this because their temporary accommodation was too small. As soon as I moved them into the bigger space, they stopped trying to murder one another. They still establish dominance every now and again, but they're not out for blood.

Another thing that makes the birds stressed and start to beat on each other is noise. I spent a day in the yard with power tools, and the birds were notably more aggressive. Your place looks quite peaceful, but it's another factor to keep in mind. :)

If possible, I'd recommend that you make the run area predator proof (although it looks like it already is) and leave the coop open permanently. The coop + run area can be their permanent safe place. Then build another run area attached to the current run, and this is what you open in the morning and close at night. If that makes sense. Snow-proof their current run if necessary, so they're not constantly wanting to stay inside the coop during bad weather.
It's great you let the chickens roam around the yard (I do that too- I let them roam free 1-3 hours a day), but their enclosed run needs to be a lot bigger, imho.

Thanks for sharing these experiences! You've got a new subscriber. :)

Maybe just offer her up to a local person who wants a chicken. The rest seem to get along and reintroducing her seems to stress the rest.. Loan it to a friend and maybe introduce another young chicken?

put some tar salve where those pecks are before putting her back, it will help heal it and the others don't like it, i'd take them all out except her. Every two days introduce 2 at a time at night, every time she's out starts process over again .... so make it her coup by removing the others all of them. she is docile so may always be the underdog. perhaps find someone who wants a pet

I have the very same problem. I did the research too and what I have read about the "reds" is that they are such wonderful Layers(and they really are-every day all Winter long here in Va. ) But they are aggressive to their flock companions if one becomes an outcast for what ever reason. I learned the hard way because mine group killed my one hen and broke my heart. I wanted to murder them that day! Good thing I am a vegetarian! So number two hen comes along and this time I do not let it go that far! I pull her out like you have and she is a good layer too - so she is As Important as they are. I have decided I will get rid of these "commercial" ladies and look for more of a heirloom breed with better personalities . Like you said they are fine with humans and they are wonderful layers. I love your coop and your videos and the comment about your "Misses" - she is a keeper too. ~smile!

Thanks for sharing this. Guess we need a back up plan before we get our new hens!!

I am praying for plan C to work for sweet Mary and the mean girls learn to get alone <3

Poor baby girl! That sucks!

I am such a nerd, this is way more interest than the garbage playing on TV nowadays. Hang in there Mary!

what if plan c doesn't work?

To save Mary the trauma, plan C won't work. I have a very submissive chicken that was brutalized by the others. They were raised from day olds. She was very submissive from the start. They always chased her around and one day I discovered that they had pecked a hole the size of an egg in her back, right down to the bone! I removed her, healed her and hubby said reintroduce her. Big mistake. In about 15 minutes they were at it again. She lived in an adjoining pen alone for about a year when I acquired a young rooster (also an Australorp) from a friend. I put him and her together in a coop and it was love at first sight. After a few months, we let the 2 of them roam around and the others got used to seeing them. At this point we let them all out together and no problems. Finally one night they all went into the one coop together. It's been a week now and we have noticed that the rooster will not tolerate anyone going after his bi%#h! It seems to have worked. I know not everyone can have a rooster, but it solved our submissive chicken problem. He is her protector and in general is keeping order. BTW, if you see blood on any chicken remove her immediately or the others will destroy her. Good luck!

You could try plan C much like I did with the rooster and put one hen with Mary, then another, etc., but my husband says debeaking is the only way as he feels you will not change the pecking order. Good luck to you and Mary!

Hubby said just a bit of the tip will do it. He used to have a flock of a hundred and had to "debeak" them. It eliminated the bloodbaths.

As much as people want to keep chickens for eggs only, there comes a time when the flock has to be thinned and meat put on the table. It doesn't have to be something you enjoy, but it is a responsibility that comes with raising livestock. My wife learned how to kill and dress our chickens. Every now and then she will go out and harvest a couple for the freezer or stew pot. When we get down to four or five, we order more chicks and when they reach coop age we harvest all the old ones. We don't look forward to it but like I said, we feel it's a duty that comes with the job.

if she is bleeding you best seperate her. The taste of blood will set them off and they will kill her in the pen.

sometimes a rooster will do make peace.. sometimes. take the most agressive ones out and leave them out for a week or two.

let us know how plan c works. Had to make chicken and dumplins out of one of my hens she was a very very determined egg eater tried every trick in the book to break her from it but nothing worked accept the stew pot. The breed chicken you have does tend to be aggressive with each other, so do rhode island reds.. More room might help but I doubt it. By taking the most aggressive ones out of the coop and letting Mary and the others get along .. when you reintroduce the aggressive ones they will be the new kids and hopefully they will get put in their place .. Maybe.. good luck

Maybe the coop is too small.

Whens the next video on Mary?

Aw geez, poor Bloody Mary. She looks like a real sweetheart. I wish I could be of help! Good luck with Plan C.

I suggest raising the chicken perch furthest from the door about 6 inched higher than the other. In nature, the highest ranking chickens/turkeys roost highest in the tree - furthest from danger. Your highest ranking chickens will use the higher perch and the lower ranks will use the lower perch. Having all the perches on the same level promotes conflict. There is no equality in the chicken world.

Have you implemented Plan C yet?

Just seperate Mary and the flock for a couple of weeks so they can see each other, then introduce her and she should be fine.(this works for me)

The only way I've found to make it work is to introduce a Rooster. It'll have to be a full grown rooster however who's able to hold his own against a pack of hens (not an easy proposition. I introduced two new hens and a young rooster into our flock of 6 hens, and it took a while, but out in the yard where the rooster had room to retreat if necessary, he was eventually able to bring all the ladies into his "care". We named him Earl...he's kind of an abusive spouse, but he keeps the "Jerks" in line. In your case, did you introduce this hen to the flock later or did they all grow up together? There must be some reason on an instinctual level that the other hens are rejecting this particular hen.

I know they need some adjustment.  Sounds like the ol man right before he kicked my ass!  LoL.

when I was a kid we had white chickens and Rhode island reds both were aggressive but the chickens that weren't were game hens as long as there were no roosters in fact game hens will accept young chicks and if handled will accept people

Hope Plan C worked! ☺🐔🐓

Hope Plan C worked! ☺🐔🐓

You've done before any vaccine that is from one day ?

She seems to get beat up the most inside the run and coop. If I counted right, it seems you have 6 hens in the coop. I hate to say it, but I think your coop is too small for 6 chickens. When you put too many animals in confined places, like people, they're bound to get cranky and will take out their frustrations on the weakest member first.
I have read in a homesteading book once that chickens need the minimum of 2X2X2 foot cube of space around them to be happy. But honestly, I feel that is also too darn small of a space for chickens. Outside the whole coop in the yard, she has the space to get away and they can hang out some where else and leave her alone. But put back in the coop and the mayhem starts all over again. The inside of the coop needs to be just a bit bigger and the pen/run area needs to be at least twice the size with roosts at different areas.

Yeah chickens are horrible. Im planning to make a big coop for mine when i get my new house. They will need alot of space. They say seperating chickens from their coop for too long will make them pull rank on her. You'd be better off making a bigger pen and a seperate cage in the coop for Bloody Mary so the others will be able to see her all the time and so forth. Hope it works well. Unless you have the ability to butcher the mean ones and get new ones in lol. sounds harsh but thats how it works.

Poor Bloody Mary. Good luck. I really enjoyed your video. We have the same problem with out flock but it wasn't this bad

what kind of chickens are these?

We loved your videos. Thank you

I tell you what I think once they see blood to continue to do it again over and over I don't know what to think I would get rid of the bully

You should research on how to raise chickens obviously you don't have a clue the chickens will continue to pick on her because they see red they are meat eaters as well they eat bugs and worms they will try to pick her to death and eat her she will end up being dead and you would end up being an idiot

A rooster will sometimes break up fights.

Chicken SoUp😋

eat her

She seems so gentle and friendly

Comb

Too crowded...so they are rectifying thwireless population.

Maybe you could keep her away for the rest of her life or maybe you could just get another chicken and put in with that chicken

They need more room

please do not put her back with them, it would be very very mean.

Put Pinless Peepers on the bullies!

The question we need to ask is, why are they so mad at bloody mary.