Chickens pecking each other's head

[Lcampbell]

Hi, I have a Wyandotte rooster, a Wyandotte pullet, and 3 Australorp pullets. None of the pullets are laying yet. I noticed last week the Wyandotte had been pecked on the top of the head and there was blood on her and the rooster. I assumed the rooster was just getting into his sexual maturity and pecked her while trying to do his thing. This morning I noticed the rooster had the same issue of being pecked on the head. The Australorps have not had any injuries. Any ideas on why? They only go into the coop at night and they are free range during the day. The coop is a decent size for the number of chickens with plenty of roost space and boxes.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

You may need to spend some time quietly observing them to see if you can see what's going on. I've seen hens or pullets pecking others in the head while the rooster tries to mate them. It wouldn't explain the roosters injuries, so best to try to see if you can see for yourself.

What do you mean by a decent size? How big is your setup? From my observations bottom birds need to stay a minimum of 5 feet away from top birds with 10 feet being even better.

As pullets approach the point of lay they sometimes can become more aggressive due to all the hormone surges, and you can see more aggression. It usually calms down after a month or two.

 

[Lcampbell]

It's about 10ftx5ft. With the roosting pole being 10ft across. They all tend to roost together but they have space if they need it. I think it happens really early in the morning before I let them out because I do check them at night before I go to bed and they seem very chill. There have been times where I left the coop open at night to see if it's a space issue (I have a livestock guard dog who is good with them and at his job) and the rooster pecking happened at that time. I can try to get up earlier and check again.