AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

Can you put "Madam Bully" AKA "Psycho Chook" in a different part of your property out of sight from the other girls then reintroduce her?

Chooky Changi within the same run may not be as effective.

If things don't work out and you can break the bullying cycle, you could always just find a new home for her rather than dispatch her...

Thanks for the suggestion Petite Poulet.

I've finally managed to get madam Houdini into her enclosure (three days and multiple additions to the security at chooky changi later!)

Given the effort to construct chooky changi I'll try the method of her being in sight of the other chooks first. If that doesn't work I'll change to plan B and move her out of sight of the others.

I really, really, really hope plan A or B work as I don't know anyone who can take her, and if all fails, it might be plan C - relocation into the pot.

Hi, Chicken Girl

Hoping that Plan A or B work out, and that Plan C never has to eventuate

Good help here I have a bully rooster called andy he is not nice to the girls and I worry about them all, I do say I do not like bullying but still let it happen all the time what should I do

Hello everyone

Madam Bully has been in Chooky changi for a week and after having hissy fits for the first few days seems to have settled down. I plan to let her rejoin the flock tomorrow and see how she behaves. The other chooks have re-organised them selves into a peaceful co-existence. Hopefully Madam Bully will come into the flock at the bottom of the pecking order. Dear little HP (hen pecked), who was mercilessly persecuted and terrorized by Madam Bully, is much happier as she can eat with the rest of the flock without being beaten up and chased away from the food.

Good luck tomorrow, hope that it all works out, especially for little HP.

Pecking orders can be so cruel and mean, sometimes I think that they exist in real life

Good luck Chicken Girl and please let us know the results, I was just thinking earlier tonight, "I wonder how that's going?"

I wonder if a rooster changi would work for andy? or could that make him worse?

Possibly aggression is genetic in roosters. Badly behaved rooster's are hard to re educate and modify their behaviour. You could try and pick him up and pat him regularly to assert your dominance over him, it may work, it may not work.

What breed is Andy and how old is he? Some breeds are more aggressive than others despite.

Hello everyone,

Released madam bully this morning (aka 'Fleck'). She seemed a bit disorientated, initially keeping her distance from the flock. Food has a way of bringing everyone together, so I watched as everyone jostled for their morning mash. So far so good. A few pushes and pecks but nothing vicious. After breakfast Fleck initially kept her distance as the the other chooks (except HP) inspected chooki changi. It was like open day at parliament house. Everyone wanted to have a scratch in the tiny run and inspect inside the coup. Fleck soon joined in, clucking away. HP must have a better memory than the others, or she is just wary, because she kept her distance from Fleck.

As the day progressed the pecking order re-configuration started. Bridgette (new chief chook) chased Fleck around the run into the main coup and beat her up. As she tried to escape, the other chooks (except HP) also have Fleck some vicious pecks. By late afternoon order was restored. Poor HP is at the bottom of the heap again. However, Fleck isn't attacking her and she can eat without being savagely pecked and chased away, so things have definitely improved. This evening, Bridgette is in firm command, commandeering the large roost leaving the others to slum it out on the smaller roost, broken ladder and old apple crate. Poor HP is on the floor, as always.

We will see how things progress but if Fleck returns to her old ways - it will be back in the cooler, but this time for two weeks.

With regards to Andy, it won't hurt to try a chooki changi experience. Roosters are meant to be domineering, but maybe he'll tone down the aggression after a week on his own.

Is he an only rooster? I read that aggression may be linked to rivalry or the perception that a rival exists. If he can see, or hear another rooster it may make him agitated, as he wants to ensure its his genes that are promulgated not another rooster's, so he bullies his harem with aggressive mating behavior. Good luck.